Two University of Ottawa business students have received a grant to train homeless men as soccer referees.
Tanveer Mostafa and Wendy Liang were awarded $1,000 from the Ottawa chapter of the Awesome Foundation, a philanthropic association "devoted to forwarding the interest of awesomeness in the universe."
"We want to help these guys move away from the label of being homeless and more as just a soccer referee," Liang said. "We want to help them pick themselves back up."
The students will be offering certification clinics to people already playing with Ottawa Street Soccer beginning on Feb. 28. Referee instructors from the Eastern Ontario District Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association will be donating their time to help run the clinics.
Most of the men involved in Ottawa Street Soccer are homeless and living in shelters.
"If their interest is within soccer, then why don't we take advantage of that interest and allow them to continue with that in the form of being referees?" Mostafa said.
Making crucial calls on a contested plays will tests and strengthen their confidence, Liang said.
"If you're able to manage this high level of pressure from countless players, coaches and even parents, these referees will be able to put these skills toward any sort of job," Liang said.
Spell check
The University of North Carolina football program paid more than $27,000 in repairs to the Duke locker room for a spray-painting incident after the Tar Heels' victory in November.
"On a positive note," wrote Reggie Hayes of The News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne, Ind., "the players did spell UNC correctly on the walls."
Trade bait
Barry Zito has signed a minor-league trade deadline with the Oakland Athletics.
"Makes sense," wrote Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com. "He has a comfortable history with the team. and if Barry does well, presumably he can count on Oakland trading him to a contender mid-season."
Bully for you
Brad Dickson of the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, after Buffalo signed ex-Miami Dolphins pariah Richie Incognito: "I wouldn't say the Bills are going after bullies, but there's a rumor they're talking to Kanye West."
Sports quiz
Barry Zito finished 23-5 and won the American League Cy Young Award in what year?
Sports answer
2002
Sports on 02/18/2015