Friends, family and some notable members of the American soccer community gathered Friday night to pay tribute to recently departed legendary MLS coach Sigi Schmid in a memorial service at American Martyrs Catholic Church in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Schmid was the all-time winningest coach in MLS history, with 240 victories in regular season play and another 26 in the postseason in a career spanning nearly 20 years across three different clubs. His service fittingly brought out a who's who of American soccer, including three former US national team managers.
Schmid won the 2002 MLS Cup title with his hometown LA Galaxy (1999-2004) and repeated the feat in 2008 with Columbus Crew SC (2006-2008) before departing as a champion to take over the expansion Seattle Sounders (2009-2016). He returned to take over the Galaxy in 2017 before stepping aside in September 2018.
For those who knew him, however, his impact was far greater than the sum of his career record.
