Bill Schmeisser

William Christian Schmeisser, widely known as Father Bill, was born in Baltimore, Maryland on 4 August 1880 and died on 1 July 1941. He was an American lacrosse player, coach and patron who played defense for Johns Hopkins from 1900 to 1902 and again in 1905. As head coach of the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays across ten non-consecutive years he won eight national championships, and he never took payment for coaching. He helped found the Mount Washington Lacrosse Club and co-wrote the 1904 book Lacrosse: From Candidate to Team, which served as the sport's standard text for fifty years. He was a long-time official of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, entered the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1957, and gives his name to the award for the top Division I defenseman.