MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- What began as a high school hobby of running track and playing football, accumulated into "47 years of fun" and a long list of accomplishments for one retired Marine aboard the Depot who may soon be recognized for them.
Bill Knepp, a retired captain who now serves as the manager for the Parris Island Member Service Center of Navy Federal Credit Union, was recently nominated for induction into the United States Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame for the contributions he has made in Marine Corps sports, as well as in the local community.
The Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, which honors former Marines who have excelled both on and off the athletic playing field, was founded in 2001, according to a press release. Those elected into the Hall of Fame will be enshrined in the National Museum of the United States Marine Corps at the Heritage Center in Quantico, Va., which is scheduled for completion in 2005.
Out of six categories, Knepp qualified in three of them: participation, administration and sports officiating, all of which are the culmination of accomplishments he has spent a lifetime achieving.
Knepp began his athletic career when he joined the Marine Corps after high school in 1955, following the path of his two older brothers. After completion of recruit training, he was stationed at Parris Island, where he won the 50-, 100- and 220-yard dashes in the Parris Island track meet.
In 1960, Knepp was selected as a member of the All-Marine Track Team, and participated in the Inter-Service Track Meet and the Armed Forces Olympic Trials.
In 1963, Knepp was the assistant coach of the 3rd Marine Division and Far East Inter-Service Championship Track Team in Okinawa, Japan. He was also a member of the Marine Aircraft Group-16 All Star Flag Football Team, as well as the All-Marine 400-meter relay team that won the Inter-Service Championships.
After nine years of excelling in various sports, Knepp added sports officiating to his list of credentials. Although being a sports official became a big part of his life, he never intended to make officiating a second career.
"Sports officiating was by accident," explained the Lewistown, Pa., native. "In 1965, my wife [Helen] and I were watching our sons play Little League Baseball at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla. The umpire was horrible, so I nudged my wife and said, 'I could umpire better than that!' To which she replied, 'Then why don't you do it?' I started attending umpire clinics, and the rest is history."
Knepp umpired Little League Baseball and intramural softball while continuing to run. Bill put away his running shoes after more than 20 years of competitions in 1967 after winning the Inter-Service Championship in the 100- and 220-yard dashes.
Knepp ended up making Marine Corps Sports History in 1973 when he was given the honor of being the first active duty Marine selected to umpire in the Little League Baseball World Series at Williamsport, Pa.
After his retirement in 1976, Knepp continued his officiating and eventually became a member of the Beaufort, South Carolina Officials Association, where he served as president, vice president and soccer and softball/baseball commissioner.
Among many other awards, Knepp was selected as the Marine Corps' nominee to the United States Olympic Committee for the Jack Kelly Fair Play Award in 1992, in recognition of his "personal dedication, lifelong devotion to athletic participation and officiating."
Knepp, who held every rank from private to captain, said he originally began sports officiating to earn a little extra money on the side.
"Originally, I started out because I was a young warrant officer, and the base paid for [officiating] the intramural softball games, and so I did it for the extra money," he said.
Money may have been the reason he started, but he said he has continued so long for a completely different reason.
"The reason I stayed was the enjoyment," he said. "It's been fun helping a lot of young children to not only know how to become good sportsmen, but teaching them fundamentals."
Over the years, he said he has enjoyed watching children learn and grow as sportsmen, and seeing the individual, as well as the overall team, improve in their skills.
"[My favorite part is] watching a child week after week try to hit the ball, then finally, the expression on his face when he finally hits the ball after weeks and weeks of trying, and the joy of running to first base and jumping up and down," he explained with a smile.
After 30 years of faithful service and dedication, Knepp retired from the Beaufort Officials Association in 1999, but his sports officiating did not stop there.
After nearly five decades, Knepp is still going strong and continues to officiate on the weekends for the Marine Corps Community Services-South Carolina Youth Baseball and Soccer programs on Laurel Bay and Parris Island, the very place where his athletic career began, and the place where he will continue to do what he loves.
"One thing that's kept me coming back year after year is the way MCCS-SC runs the program and the parent involvement - it's been a joy," he said. "And as long as I enjoy it, and have my health and am able to do it, I'll probably continue to do it."