William “Bill” Sham
William “Bill” Sham was an outstanding all-around athlete who also made a tremendous contribution to thousands of young athletes as a coach.
He was a member of the first championship team in the history of the Mercer County Midget Football League. He was an all-MAC tackle on the Sharon High football team and a letterman on the 1966 undefeated team as a junior.
Bill went on to Wittenberg University, where he played football and baseball as a freshman, then transferred to Grove City College where he played football for three seasons. He went on to play for the semi-pro Penn-Ohio Blasters.
He organized and played in the first three alumni football team fundraisers with many other past MCHF inductees.
He served for 26 years as offensive and defensive line coach for Sharon High School and the team won many league, district and state honors. He also coached at Kennedy Catholic and Hickory High schools as well as Hiram College. He coached linemen in more than 125 playoff games.
Bill also played baseball as a youngster on several all-star teams. He played American Legion Baseball and had tryouts with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles. He played in the Youngstown Class A League and the Pymatuning League. He also coached high school and junior varsity league ball.
In softball he played in the Shenango Valley Church Modified League with the St. Joseph team that also featured Hall of Fame inductees Tony Knott and Bill “Whiskers” Jacobson. He served as player-manager for 10 years.
Bill has been a valuable member of the MCHF Board of Directors for many years.