By Cindy Schroeder
Enquirer staff writer

COVINGTON - The memory of a man dubbed "the sportsman of the century'' for the years he devoted to Northern Kentucky sports will live on through the Bill Cappel Volunteer Spirit Award.

Sponsored by the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame and the city of Covington, the award honors a Covington resident who best exemplifies the spirit of the man who devoted his 91 years to helping others.

The lifelong Covington resident never married, but he channeled his energies into his church, youth sports and keeping up with his 23 nieces and nephews, friends said.

"He was one in a million,'' said Joe Brennan, secretary of the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame that Cappel founded. "Bill never thought about himself. He always asked, 'What can I do for you?'''

Nominations for the award will be accepted through Oct. 1, and the winner will be announced at Covington City Commission's December meeting. Each year, the recipient will have his or her name engraved on a plaque in the commission's meeting room.

"We want to recognize one of those people who (doesn't) expect any accolades for what they do,'' said Covington Mayor Butch Callery. "Maybe they volunteer at a school, cut grass or shovel snow for an elderly neighbor, or do some other good deed out of the goodness of their heart.''

For more than 65 years, Cappel was either playing, organizing, umpiring or preparing the grounds for baseball or softball, Brennan said. The decorated World War II Army veteran organized women's softball in Covington and co-founded the Northern Kentucky Umpires Association. Cappel also collected a world championship trophy in 1939 as the captain of Nick Carr's Kentucky Boosters of Covington.

During the winters, Cappel raised as much as $13,000 a year for the March of Dimes with his "Snowball'' tournament for Tristate softball teams.

"Bill even painted the balls orange so that you could see them in the snow,'' Brennan said.

The year before he died, Cappel, who twice won a contest at Crosley Field for running the bases the fastest, saw Covington name a sports complex for him and paint his youthful likeness on a mural depicting his world championship softball team.

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com

Nominations

What: Bill Cappel Volunteer Award

Nominations due: Oct. 1

To submit a nomination: Entry forms are on the city Web site at covingtonky.com. Forms should be mailed to Mayor Butch Callery, City of Covington, 638 Madison Ave., Covington, KY 41011.