William Christian Schmeisser (August 4, 1880 – July 1, 1941), known widely as "Father Bill", was an American

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

player, coach, and patron. He served as the head coach of the

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays are the 24 intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Johns Hopkins University, located in Baltimore, Maryland. They compete in the NCAA Division III, except for their lacrosse teams, which compete in Division I. ...

for ten non-consecutive years, and won eight national championships. He was also an active patron of the sport and promoter of its development. He helped found the highly successful amateur

Mount Washington Lacrosse Club The Mount Washington Lacrosse Club is an amateur field lacrosse club based in Baltimore, Maryland. As one of the most successful and well-known lacrosse clubs in history, at one point it dominated the sport at both the collegiate and club level. Th ...

. Schmeisser viewed his role in the sport as altruistic, and he never received monetary compensation for coaching.

Education

He was born on August 4, 1880 in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and attended high school at

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...

, from which he graduated in 1899. He received his undergraduate college education at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1902. While at Hopkins, Schmeisser played as a

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

on the lacrosse team from 1900 to 1902. He was also a member of the Beta Mu chapter of

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...

. Schmeisser returned to Johns Hopkins for graduate study in the field of

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

, and played an additional year of lacrosse, in 1905.William C. Schmeisser
,

National Lacrosse Hall of Fame The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, is located in Sparks, Maryland at the USA Lacrosse headquarters. Prior to moving to its present location in 2016, the hall of fame and museum was located in Baltimore, Maryland, on the Homewood campu ...

US Lacrosse USA Lacrosse is the national governing body of men and women's lacrosse in the United States. It provides a leadership role in virtually every aspect of the game and has more than 450,000 members throughout the United States, and offers programs a ...

, retrieved May 19, 2009. In 1907, he graduated from the school of law at the

University of Maryland, Baltimore The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1807, it comprises some of the oldest professional schools of dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy, social work and nursing in the United States ...

.Donald M. Fisher
''Lacrosse: A History of the Game''
p. 93–94, 2002, Baltimore:

JHU Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

, .

Role in lacrosse

In 1902, he served as team captain and as a co-coach for Johns Hopkins alongside Ronald T. Abercrombie. That season, the team was awarded the Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (ILA) national championship. The following year, Schmeisser became the sole head coach, and the team again garnered the ILA championship. He returned to Hopkins as its head lacrosse coach from 1905 to 1909. Schmeisser took the position again from 1923 to 1925, and Johns Hopkins secured the

United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the varsi ...

(USILA) championships in 1923 and 1924. Schmeisser helped organize and played on the

, a highly successful Baltimore-based amateur team. Since there was no professional league, many former college lacrosse stars played for Mount Washington. The club regularly participated in exhibition games against the top intercollegiate programs and very rarely lost. In 1904, Schmeisser and Abercrombie co-authored ''Lacrosse: From Candidate to Team'', a book which became the sport's standard text for the next fifty years. He also helped promote lacrosse at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

. Schmeisser was known to often carry a furled umbrella on the sidelines, regardless of the weather, and he stated that his reason for doing so was, "This way I know it won't rain."Lacrosse Trivia Quiz
''Johns Hopkins Magazine'', Johns Hopkins University, retrieved May 19, 2009. In 1919, he helped start the tradition in which flags bearing gold stars are attached to the goals prior to the season opener. This was first done to honor three former Hopkins players who were killed in action during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.The exalted history of the Hopkins lacrosse program
, ''

The Johns Hopkins News-Letter ''The Johns Hopkins News-Letter'' is the independent student newspaper of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. Published since 1896, it is one of the nation's oldest continuously published, weekly, student-run college newsp ...

'', March 1, 2007. The tradition has continued to date and additional stars have been added for players killed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and

Viet Nam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

. In 1928, Johns Hopkins won a postseason tournament to represent the United States in a lacrosse exhibition event during the Summer Olympics in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, and Schmeisser accompanied the team as an assistant coach. He also traveled to England in 1937 alongside the all-star team. In 1941, just two months before his death, Schmeisser convinced the undefeated Johns Hopkins team to accept a challenge from the likewise undefeated Mount Washington Club. The Blue Jays edged their opponents, 7–6. Schmeisser was a long-time official of the USILA, and he held positions that included member of the rules committee, chief referee, and president.

, the American sport's governing body, inducted him into the

in 1957. He was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. He is also the namesake of the William C. Schmeisser Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding defenseman in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I men's lacrosse.

Professional life

Schmeisser was an attorney by trade and never accepted payment for his coaching. After earning his undergraduate degree, he worked first as a bank clerk and then as a law clerk. His next job was as an attorney for the Willis and Homer firm. Later in his career, he ran his own law firm and was a member of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

, the Maryland State Bar Association, and the Bar Association of Baltimore City. Schmeisser also served sixteen years on the board of directors of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

's Baltimore Branch and as president from 1938 to 1941. He married Isabel Wooldrige, with whom he had two children, a son and a daughter. Schmeisser died on July 1, 1941 at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore after a month-long illness.W. C. SCHMEISSER, CIVIC LEADER, DIES; "Father Bill" To Lacrosse World Succumbs After Illness Of Month Attorney Had Engaged For Best Part Of His Life In Y. M. C. A. Work
''The Baltimore Sun'', July 2, 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmeisser, William C. 1880 births 1941 deaths American lacrosse players Baltimore City College alumni Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse players Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse coaches Maryland lawyers Mount Washington Lacrosse Club players University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni YMCA leaders Lacrosse players from Baltimore 20th-century American lawyers