by Geoff Fox
The weekend of July 20 and July 21 is Hall of Fame weekend. While the national attention is looking to Cooperstown, N.Y., and the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 21, attention locally will be looking to Hagerstown and the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame on July 20.
Bill Sterner, the long-time coach, teacher, and athletic director at Hancock Middle-Senior High School will be one of four inductees into the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame.
Joining Sterner in the Hall of Fame this year will be Vic Barnhart of Hagerstown who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Megan Crawford who coached volleyball at North Hagerstown, and Carolyn Showalter who won the JFK 50-mile ultra marathon six times.
Back in April, Sterner had a medical emergency and was recovering in the hospital after surgery when he was told of his induction.
While in recovery, Sterner got a call from the president of the Hall of Fame wanting to let him know he was being inducted into the hall.
“That cheered me up,” he said.
Sterner said he is “very humbled” by being selected for the Hall of Fame and there are some excellent in the hall.
“When you think that people recognize your efforts and the time you put in and the things you try to do, it makes you feel you’ve lived your life well,” Sterner said.
Looking back over his career, Stern said it was Hall of Fame worthy just to put a team on the field with a small number of kids.
“That was always a challenge,” he said.
When he was in high school himself, Sterner said his school had 1,000 students but when he started at Hancock, he saw how few kids there were.
He said it became like a challenge, but it was something he looked forward to every year.
“I wouldn’t go back and change a thing,” Sterner said.
There were times only 11 kids would go out for football when he and Coach Bailey were manning the sidelines at Hancock High School.
He remembered a day when Bailey gave the team an afternoon off from practice, but told them to go downtown and in the morning bring a friend back to practice with them.
“We picked up like seven more kids,” Sterner said laughing. “Kids came back and said, ‘So and so wants to play.’”
Sterner also remembers telling kids if they can fog up a mirror, he’d put a helmet on them.
“I think the kids got a good experience from it because either you have the experience or you don’t have a team,” he said.
Hancock had a lot of different goals compared to other schools, which Sterner was okay with because he wanted to give the kids at a small school the same experiences he had.
For the last three years of his career, Sterner was the Athletic Director at Clear Spring High School.
He said there was a huge difference going from Hancock, which has nine varsity sports, to Clear Spring, which has 16 and 59 coaches on his staff. At Hancock, Sterner’s largest coaching staff was around 25.
When he went to Clear Spring, Sterner said he was welcomed into the school life and staff, enjoying the three years and making friends.
Sterner wasn’t aware of any perks that come with being in the Hall of Fame, but he did say there would be a plaque with his picture on it at the site at Hagerstown Community College.
The induction is being held Saturday, July 20, in Hagerstown and Sterner is looking forward to the event.
He said his kids and grandkids will be in attendance that night.
“It’s as much a family award as it is an individual award,” Sterner said of the induction.
He said for years, his family put up with the life of a coach and athletic director. Sterner added he was able to coach his kids at the high school level as well, but they were there to allow him to do “that stuff.”
Sterner said if someone asked him what his strength was over the years, he said it was he was able to pick and surround himself with good people.
“I knew who was going to buy in, who was going to be there when it got tough, and I could pick those people out and I surrounded myself with those people,” he said. “I think that’s what give you your success.”
He added nobody stands alone and pointed towards the likes of former coaches Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, and Cuck Noll probably did the same thing.
He said the induction makes him sit back and reflect and think on the choices he made over his career.
Sterner started his teaching career at Southern Fulton High School because, out of five job offers he received out of college, it didn’t have a football program.
His dad told him if he was smart, he should take the job so he could focus on teaching and not football. Sterner did eventually become the track coach for the Indians.
While he was living above Weavers, he asked if there were any football games in the area, which Mrs. Souders replied Hancock was playing Berkeley Springs that night at the high school.
While sitting in the bleachers, Sterner was approached about running the scoreboard and clock.
After the game, the Hancock coach asked him if he played football (Sterner was an offensive lineman for Lockhaven College) and that he needed a line coach.
When asked if he’d be interested, Sterner said he was and that Sunday called his dad to tell him.
“I said, ‘Hey Pop, guess what, I’m coaching football at another school.’ And he goes, ‘Oh for God’s sake!’” Sterner said once again laughing. “I’ll never forget that.”
Tom Ogelby was the coach that year and would go on to be a mentor for Sterner. He’d also meet and learn from Coach Paul Imphong as well.
That also helped Sterner in his athletic director career as well as Imphong was also an athletic director as well.
In the time the announcement was made, Sterner said he’s gotten a lot of congratulations and well wishes about the Hall of Fame induction.
Those well wishes started after the Herald-Mail ran the announcement of the four newest members of the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame.
In all the people who have contacted him congratulations, some might have been people he might have stepped on their toes.
Sterner said he’s always been the type of guy who wants to get along with everybody, but the hardest part is knowing that not everybody is going to like you or what you do.
He recalled having angry parents in his office, including one where he had to suspend six football players from a game.
For the most part, though, Sterner thinks he got along with everyone.
He said he’s also heard from non-athletes who were in his classes congratulating him.
“It makes you feel good, especially from your colleagues, guys you coached with, and guys who were on my coaching staff,” Sterner said.
Sterner is a fan of all the Pittsburgh sports teams – Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates.
As he goes into the Washington County Hall of Fame, former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jimmy Leyland will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sterner said Leyland is deserving of his induction into the Hall of Fame and credits him as one of his favorite managers of all time. He also respected Leyland as well.
One of his favorite clips of Leyland getting into slugger Barry Bonds face and telling him it was his team and Bonds would do it his way.
