William Paats was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 sports instructor.

Often regarded as "the father of Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

an football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

", Paats' family moved to Asunción

Asunción

Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...

, Paraguay in 1894. At that time, Williams was 18 years old and soon noticed the lack in the formal practice of any sport in Paraguay.

After a few years, he became a physical education

Physical education

Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....

 instructor at the Escuela Normal school in Asunción. In one of his trips to Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, he bought a football (ball)

Football (ball)

A football is an inflated ball used to play one of the various sports known as football.The first balls were made of natural materials, such as an inflated pig bladder, sometimes inside a leather cover...

 and brought it back to Paraguay; and soon after he started teaching the practice of football to his students. The popularity of football in Paraguay rose immediately, and small tournaments where held at the Plaza de Armas

Plaza de Armas

The Plaza de Armas is the name for the main square in many Latin American cities. In Mexico this space is known as El Zócalo, and in Central America as Parque Central...

. Due to the success and enormous interest of the people, Paats decided to found the first Paraguayan football club, and so on July 25 of 1902 Olimpia Football Club

Olimpia Asunción

Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sport club based in Asunción. It is best known for its professional football team which plays in the Paraguayan Primera División....

 was born.

Paats was also a founding member of the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol

Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol

The Paraguayan Football Association is the governing body of football in Paraguay. It organizes the Paraguayan football league and the Paraguay national football team, and is based in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción...

 (Paraguayan Football Association) in 1906 and served as President of the mentioned organization from 1909 to 1910. He also promoted and taught the practice of other sports disciplines such as cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 and rowing

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

. His passion for sports and social activities led him to found the social and sports club Sajonia in 1921 and the Touring Club Paraguayo in 1924. He also served as a consul

Consul (representative)

The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...

for the Netherlands until 1935.

Paats died on August 28, 1946, in Asunción, leaving his legacy as one of the most important sports personalities in Paraguay.