Three generations compete for CYO football championship
Joe Bill, CYO football coach at Christ the King Parish in Indianapolis, is shown with his son, Jude Bill, CYO football coach at St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis. The football player pictured is Jude Bill, the grandson and son of the two coaches. (Submitted photo)
By John Shaughnessy
Some fans called the game “The Bill Bowl” because it featured three generations of the Bill family competing against each other for a Catholic Youth Organization football championship.
Yet 72-year-old Joe Bill wanted to put the spotlight on two larger families that were being represented in one of the fourth-grade championship games that featured a team from Christ the King Parish in Indianapolis playing a team from St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis.
To Joe, the story wasn’t that he was coaching the Christ the King team while his son, Jude, was coaching the St. Luke Blue team—a team on which Joe’s grandson and Jude’s son, Jude, played.
Instead, Joe insisted that his family’s connection in the game paled in comparison to something more important at the championship.
“People were talking about this being ‘The Bill Bowl,’” Joe says about the game that was played on Oct. 27. “I said it was all about the kids on the two teams who were playing. They’re the ones the game is for.”
It’s hard to argue with a man who has been coaching in CYO and other youth league sports programs for 45 years.
For the record, Joe’s Christ the King team won the game 12-0—a result he describes as both “wonderful” and “bittersweet.”
“I wanted to see my boys win, but I didn’t want to see my son and grandson lose, so to speak,” Joe says.
Joe paused and finally acknowledged how nice it was to share the field with two other generations of the Bill family.
“I enjoyed coaching Jude years ago,” Joe says. “He was quite a player. It was fun to be a part of this—to have three generations on the same field even though we weren’t on the same team. It was great.”
“Great” certainly describes Joe’s commitment to coaching and young people, says Ed Tinder, the executive director of the CYO.
“He’s been coaching in CYO since the 1960s,” Tinder says. “I think Joe’s continuing involvement in the program is extremely important to young kids. For them to see someone his age give so much energy to them, that sends a great message to the kids about volunteering. His only interest is those kids.”
Joe’s admiration for the CYO is mutual.
“I love CYO,” says the father of five and the grandfather of 10. “It does so much for the kids. There’s an old saying in the CYO—faith, family and football. Football ranks right up there. It’s a good way to teach kids about life—to work hard, to overcome fear, to never give up. All those basic values. It’s just nice to coach the young guys.”
Through coaching, Joe seeks to share the joys he had in his own childhood.
“I had a great youth,” he says. “I wanted to share some of that with these kids so they’ll have a great youth. We have a team song, ‘Tigers On To Victory.’ The kids love to sing it.”
Joe gives the credit to his long tenure of coaching to his wife of 46 years, Gracie.
“It was 1962,” Joe says. “She thought I needed something more to do. Even then, Gracie liked having me out of the house. She’s the one who got me hooked up with Father Paul Courtney at St. Luke at the time. She told him I loved to coach. It’s funny. I ended up playing St. Luke’s for the championship this year.”
In another twist, Joe’s son, Jude, started his coaching career in football at Christ the King Parish in 1989. So the connections were everywhere for the Oct. 27 championship game—a game that Jude says he and his father had been aiming for all season.
“It’s actually something my dad and I talked about at the beginning of the year,” says Jude, 43. “My dad and I talked nearly every day during the season. I’ve learned mostly everything I know about football from my dad, and I’ve added some things. It was our mutual goal to play each other in the championship game. If you’re going to lose, I’d rather lose to my father than anyone else.”
Jude says he is proud of his St. Luke players and the great effort they gave all season and during the championship game. As only a father can be, he is especially proud of the way his son, Jude, played during the championship.
“He definitely played the best game of the year,” says Jude, the father. “He was definitely excited about playing in a game that involved his grandfather. I know his grandfather and I were proud of him.”
While the game marked the only time the father and son have ever coached against each other, they have previously coached together for about five years. Joe and Jude were on the same sidelines in basketball when they coached Martha and Maggie—the daughters of Jude and Colleen Bill. (Joe’s son and Jude’s brother, Glenn, has also been a longtime football coach at Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis.)
For Joe and his son, Jude, there’s a legacy that’s far more important than coaching against each other in a championship game. It’s a legacy of how to coach and why they coach.
“I hate coaches who yell and scream at kids and break their spirit,” Joe says. “I want to keep their spirit and just tame them down a little. I love the kids.”
Jude, the father, notes, “The reason we do it is we like to see the kids get better and learn about life. Then maybe someday they’ll walk in our shoes and help kids through coaching.”†
