Athlete Bio
William L. Hoyt
Class of 1955
A three-sport athlete who was a four-year varsity letter winner on the great football teams of the early 50's, Bill Hoyt was awarded the scholar-athlete and flag awards at the CHS graduation in 1955.
Hoyt was a rare freshman member of the football varsity in the fall of 1951, earning time on coach Bernie Megin's great Piedmont Bowl team. A starter for most of his sophomore year before a broken bone sidelined him, Hoyt returned his junior year as a starting guard, Hoyt was a two-way force as a senior, earning time at offensive guard, linebacker and defensive end, and was a Boston Globe All-Scholastic Honorable Mention pick in addition to playing in the prestigious Greater Lowell All-Star Game.
Hoyt was also a member of coach Skip O'Connor's powerful indoor and outdoor track teams, running the 600 and relay events indoors and whatever event he was needed for in the spring. Captains of both teams as a senior, Hoyt ran a 1:17 in the 1955 B.A.A. 600 meter event on the old cork track at the Boston Garden. On the outdoor team, Hoyt qualified for the state meet as a junior and senior, running a leg on the medal-winning relay team.
After graduation, Hoyt went on to Hamilton College in Clinton, New York where he was a four year, two-way starter for the Continental football eleven. As a senior, Hoyt captained the only undefeated team in school history. Despite never having played lacrosse, Hoyt was persuaded to take up the game and went on to become a three-year starter on defense. A co-captain as a senior, Hoyt was nominated for the prestigious North/South game and went on to play ten years for the Boston Lacrosse Club. In 1959, Hoyt won the prestigious Gelas Memorial Prize awarded to the top athlete in the graduating Hamilton class.
Following Hamilton, Hoyt went right to work as a teacher and coach in nearby Stoneham, giving other high school students the same opportunities he had on the playing field. Hoyt worked in the Stoneham school system for four decades, rising through the ranks to Principal and Superintendent of Schools. Along the way, he made his mark on high school athletics, writing the original draft of what became the athletic philosophy for the Middlesex League.
"Whatever success I have had in athletics and in my career are directly related to the superb teacher coaches at CCHS and the community support from that era," says Hoyt, who currently trains school administrators. "Finally, I want people to know that I tried to give my students a bit of what I stored in my soul from the Concord years."
Hoyt is the father of two children, Billy, Jr. and Susan.