Background
Martinello was born in Windsor, Ontario on December 6, 1935.
Martinello was born in Windsor, Ontario on December 6, 1935.
He played box lacrosse from the age of 12, playing in the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League with Windsor Joe"s Cement in his later teens. In 1962, Medo played for the Brampton Ramblers of the OLA Senior A League, then the highest level of the sport in the world.
In 1968, he had an 8-game stint with the newly formed professional Detroit Olympics of the National Lacrosse League, again, then the highest level for the sport in its era.
In hockey, Medo played his junior hockey with the Blenheim Blades of the Border Cities Junior B Hockey League before becoming a referee. From 1953 to 1955, Martinello was a minor hockey referee.
From 1956 until 1960, he reffed Junior B and C in the Ontario Hockey Association. In the 1960s, Martinello reffed in the elite-amateur OHA Senior A Hockey League and professional International Hockey League.
From 1970 until 1989, Medo reffed all levels of Junior hockey, from A down to C, for the OHA. In 1972, Medo became the first Canadian to referee an National Collegiate Athletic Association Final, the game was between Boston University and Denver University.
Medo often was chosen to ref international games between National Collegiate Athletic Association and IHL teams and the likes of Russia and Czechoslovakia and also helped to create the 2-referee system in the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the 1970s, since followed by most major leagues. As a coach, Martinello led the Windsor Warlocks Junior. C Lacrosse team to OLA and Eastern Canadian titles in 1972 and 1973.
He led the 1975 Quebec Caribous of the National Lacrosse League to a professional championship.
From 1989 until 1992, Medo coached the Detroit Turbos of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League winning the 1991 league championship. He was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2005.