With nearly 50 years of coaching experience that has spanned the globe, international coaching legend Bill Percy is the distinguished recipient of the 2025 ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award.
Named after the great Lefty Gomez, this annual award is presented to an individual who has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally. Presented by Wilson Sporting Goods, the Lefty Gomez Award presentation takes place each year during the Hall of Fame Banquet at the ABCA Convention.
Percy's coaching career began in 1974 at Florida Southern College, where after winning the 1972 NCAA Div. II College World Series as a player for the Moccasins, he joined the coaching staff as an assistant under ABCA Hall of Fame coach Hal Smeltzly.
After receiving his bachelor's degree from Florida Southern, Percy went on to earn his master's degree in education from Central Missouri State University where he served as a graduate assistant.
Percy began his high school teaching and coaching career in Colorado Springs, Colorado, becoming the head baseball coach at Palmer High School in 1978 before taking over at Mitchell High School in 1990. Percy’s 1992 and 1993 Mitchell teams both advanced to state championship games, finishing runner-up each year. Percy was honored as an ABCA/Diamond Sports High School Regional Coach of the Year following the 1999 season at Mitchell.
Inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 2017, Percy retired from St. Mary’s High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2022 after 16 years at the helm. The St. Mary’s skipper was named Tri-Peaks East Division Baseball Coach of the Year in 2019 after the Pirates went 17-6 and made it to the Elite 8 of the state tournament.
A Lifetime Member of the ABCA, Percy remains active in his home state of Colorado, where he is currently in his second season as an assistant coach at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, while serving as the Executive Director of the Colorado Dugout Club Coaches Association. A Past President of the Colorado Dugout Club, Percy was inducted into the association’s inaugural Hall of Fame Class of 2010.
Percy has traveled to four continents coaching and teaching the game of baseball to players and coaches worldwide. Percy became a Major League Baseball Envoy coach in 1997 with assignments in Croatia, Serbia, Austria and Hungary, and from 1998-2005, he served as head coach of the Croatian Senior National Team.
In 2002, he was awarded the Julio Puente Envoy Award by Major League Baseball for exceptional dedication to the development of baseball overseas.
Percy became involved with USA Baseball in 1990, where he coached the Junior National Team to a silver medal in the Pan American Games in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Just three years later, Percy's Junior National Team brought home a gold medal in Chicago. In 1996, Percy served as head coach of the USA Youth 15U team that competed in the IBAF World Championships in Chiba, Japan. He was also an assistant coach with the USA Olympic Sports Festival East Team in 1995 that competed in Colorado Springs.
In his many coaching positions, Percy has had the opportunity to coach a number of players who went on to illustrious careers in Major League Baseball.
Along with coaching and his MLB Envoy work, Percy has organized baseball coaching seminars throughout Colorado, the United States and Europe and was a featured clinician at the 2004 ABCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas. He also served as a member of the ABCA High School All-America and Coach of the Year Committee from 1998-2005.
Founded in 1945, the American Baseball Coaches Association is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 15,000 members represent all 50 states and 41 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association members have broadened to include nine divisions: NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School, Youth and Travel.