Bill Kohl graduated from Morton East in 1969 where he played football. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1973. He started his career in parks and recreation after coaching basketball teams to four titles in five years at Clyde Park, including two undefeated seasons. These teams included ability levels from sixteenand- under to men’s “A” teams. He returned four years later with a different group of players and once again led them to an undefeated record in the “A” league. Except for the seven years he spent running the softball and basketball programs at Clyde Park, Bill has been with the Hawthorne Park District. He started there in the early 1970s as softball director and eventually ran the famed Miller Lite Classic “A” Tournament from 1984 to 2000. The tournament had such parity among the competitors that for the first ten years, different teams won titles. The winners included Hotshots, Titans, Blues, Stooges, Doctors, Storm, BJ’s Pub, Gamblers, High Lites, Stickmen (the only backto- back winners), Ice, Luciano’s, Jynx, and Screwballs. Bill must have connections with the weather because tournament only had one rainout and only three games were affected during the tournament’s seventeen-year run. Bill is currently the co-recreational director at Hawthorne along with Deb Harris and Jim Terracino. They organize grade school basketball and volleyball programs. Jim Terracino also works with Bill during the softball season. Jim was also instrumental in helping make the Miller Lite Tournament a success. Over the years they have also hosted several of the Cicero-Berwyn Life All Star softball games, featuring the best players from each community. They also host police benefit tournaments to aid causes in the community.
