• Schmitt, Charles “Chuck” - 2026

Charles “Chuck” Schmitt was born and raised in Milwaukee and, like many others, came late to the party of hockey only because he brought a rusty pair of figure skates to the Evans Golf Scholars House at UW-Madison where he first began to play.  After completing his undergraduate degree, Schmitt went on to attend medical school at UW-Madison and completed his residency in anesthesiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Schmitt moved his family to Sheboygan in 1982 and then discovered that there was no organized youth hockey program in that community.  He put an ad in the Sheboygan Press seeking individuals who would be interested in helping start one and thus was born the Sheboygan Blue Line Association (SBLA). Starting with skating, literally on the pond at Kiwanis Park, he spent countless hours blowing snow and handling fire hoses to provide the ice surface for this new program.  He also personally purchased equipment that would ensure that no child, male or female, was turned away.  Schmitt made sure the Mighty Mite program was affordable and had consistent ice time on Saturday mornings.  His mantra became the value of the beginner hockey players. Schmitt served as the President of SBLA from 1982 to 1997 and left only because of a new job in Milwaukee.  He was not only President but served as the chief fund raiser to provide the impetus to construct an indoor arena.  When the fund-raising efforts fell short, he personally covered the remaining costs.

Schmitt was not only a builder of hockey, but he also served as a coach and was instrumental in involving girls in the SBLA program.  His teams of boys always had one or two girls competing, often against larger neighboring programs. This participation inspired other girls to join SBLA and Schmitt became an early leader in the move to grow girls’ hockey.  Schmitt was a jack-of -all trades in Sheboygan and wore many hats, from founder to fund-raiser, President to coach, referee to scheduler and many other jobs that he was called on to support SBLA.

Schmitt and his wife Anne-Marie live in Shorewood and have several children: Thomas,  Melanie, Jennifer, Isabel, Julia and Hazel.  He spent 20 years as an anesthesiologist at Memorial Hospital in Sheboygan, the same position for 25 years in Milwaukee and is now retired.