Brian Schmetzer

Infobox Football biography
playername= Brian Schmetzer


fullname = Brian Schmetzer
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1962|8|18
cityofbirth = Seattle, Washington
countryofbirth = United States
height = height|ft=5|in=11
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Forward / Midfielder
youthyears = 1970-1980
youthclubs = Lake City Hawks
years = 1980-1983
1984
1984-1988
1985
1988
clubs = Seattle Sounders
Tulsa Roughnecks
San Diego Sockers "(indoor)"
→ F.C. Seattle "(loan)"
Tacoma Stars "(indoor)"
caps(goals) = 36 (1)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1988-1989
2002-
managerclubs = Tacoma Stars "(assistant)"
Seattle SeaDogs "(assistant)"
Seattle Sounders
pcupdate = 17:47, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
ntupdate = 7 December 2006

Brian Schmetzer (born August 18, 1962 in Seattle, Washington) is a retired U.S. soccer player who played in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and Western Soccer League. He currently coaches the Seattle Sounders.

Youth

Schmetzer was born and grew up in Seattle, Washington where he attended Nathan Hale High School. He learned to play soccer under the tutelage of his father Walter, who coached him with the Lake City Hawks youth team. Walter, a native of Germany, had played in the German Third Division before immigrating to the United States. Walter instilled a love for the game in Brian who became an outstanding youth and high school player.

NASL

After graduating from high school, Schmetzer chose to forego college and signed with the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in June 1980. He spent the 1980 season with the Sounders reserves before playing with the Sounders during the 1980-1981 NASL indoor season. In the 1981 Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup, he came on with eight minutes left in the game against Celtic. However, he saw no time in the 1981 regular season. Then in 1982, he got his break. He saw time in six games that season, then became a regular in 1983. Unfortunately for him, the Sounders folded at the end of the season.

With the demise of the Sounders, Schmetzer moved to the Tulsa Roughnecks for the 1984 NASL season. However, the league collapsed at the end of the season and Schmetzer moved again, this time to the San Diego Sockers.

MISL

The Sockers had begun as an NASL franchise, but had twice spent the winter playing in Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). With the collapse of the NASL, the Sockers moved permanently to MISL. During the next decade they dominated the indoor game racking up championships nearly every season. Schmetzer was with the Sockers for four seasons, winning an MISL title in three of them.

In 1988, Schemetzer moved to the Tacoma Stars. While there, he both played and he began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Stars.

F.C. Seattle

Following the Sockers championship victory in 1985, San Diego loaned Schemtzer to F.C. Seattle of the Western Soccer Alliance. The team was created in 1984 after the Sounders folded to provide local and ex-NASL players an opportunity to play outside of local rec leagues. Jimmy Gabriel coached F.C. Seattle that season. Gabriel and Schmetzer would join up again when Schemtzer became head coach of the Sounders with Gabriel as his assistant. While Schmetzer played as a midfielder with Seattle, he scored both goals in a 2-1 victory over Brazilian club Santos on June 8, 1985.

Coaching

While Schmetzer began his coaching career as a player-assistant coach with the Tacoma Stars, he became a dedicated assistant coach when he moved to the Seattle SeaDogs of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) in 1995. Fernando Clavijo coached the SeaDogs, which lasted only three seasons before folding. However, they did win the CISL championship their last season, 1997.

In 2002, the Seattle Sounders found themselves without a head coach. General manager Adrian Hanauer called Schmetzer and asked him if he was interested in the job. Schmetzer agreed and took the job that season. In 2004, he coached the Sounders to the A-League championship game where the team lost to the Montreal Impact. The next year the A-League became known as the USL First Division. In 2005, Schmetzer again took the Sounders to the championship game, but defeated the Richmond Kickers in penalty kicks to take the title.

Schmetzer also co-owns a construction company with former Sounders team mate Dick McCormick.

External links

* [http://soundercentral.com/museum/1982%20updates/brian_schmetzer.htm Sounders bio]
* [http://soundercentral.com/museum/1983%20updates/more/brian_schmetzer_1983.htm Article by Schmetzer on his time with the Sounders]
* [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002530387_sounders30.html 2005 Seattle Times article]
* [http://www.seattlesounders.net/coaches.php Sounders coaches bio]