It's not meant for Pete Vagenas, but the message that is on the doors of the Los Angeles Galaxy locker room at The Home Depot Center is as much a reminder to those who knew him as those first-time Galaxy players.
"Always remember Doug Hamilton."
"Everybody from Cobi Jones to Sean Franklin, one of our newest players, knows who Doug Hamilton is," the veteran midfielder said. "I think it's important to keep that alive. Not necessarily what he did in the soccer world, because that goes without saying, but who he was and what he stood for."
With that message in mind, the second annual Doug Hamilton Memorial Soccer Classic will be played at Raritan High School in Hamilton's hometown of Hazlet, N.J. on Saturday. On March 9, 2006, Hamilton died of heart complications on a flight home from Costa Rica. The Los Angeles Galaxy president and general manager was just 43.
"I think it's important for this league to remember where it came from and who had gotten it to this point," Vagenas said. "Doug was definitely not only at the forefront of pushing the Los Angeles Galaxy, but pushing this league as well."
Big East rivals Rutgers and Connecticut will meet in a friendly match at 7 p.m. and both teams will participate in a youth soccer clinic for children 14 and under on the athletic fields at Raritan H.S. beginning at 4 p.m. Mini youth matches featuring teams from the Hazlet Youth Soccer Association will start at 5:30 p.m.
Last year, Rutgers defeated St. John's 4-1 in the first annual game, which raised more than $10,000 for Hamilton's son, Aedan.
"It was really well received and we were able to raise some money for Aedan, which was tremendous," Rutgers coach Bob Reasso said. "It was a good game, not just because we were on the winning side, but because it was exciting for the fans. It was a fitting tribute to a great guy."
Reasso said there was a tremendous outpouring from the soccer community when word spread that there would be an annual event in Hamilton's name. He said he received phone calls from numerous college coaches, including Dave Masur at St. John's, Ray Reid at UConn and Sasho Cirovski from Maryland.
"It was very easy to get guys to come out," Reasso said. "We had about 20 offers from referees volunteering their services."
Hamilton was a stellar player at Raritan H.S. and went on to play for Mike Berticelli at UNC-Greensboro, winning three Division III national championships. It was actually Hamilton who called Reasso to tell him that Berticelli died of a heart attack in January 2000 at the age of 48.
After a stellar collegiate career, Hamilton coached at Greensboro College for three years, leading the team to the NCAA Division III title game in 1989. He was inducted into the Greensboro College Hall of Fame last year. Hamilton was then an assistant coach at Duke University and the Blue Devils reached the College Cup semifinals in 1992.
From there Hamilton worked for adidas before joining the Fusion, where attendance was up 49 percent in the two years he was the executive vice president there. In his five years in Los Angeles, the Galaxy never missed the playoffs and won a pair of MLS Cup titles. Hamilton was named the MLS Executive of the Year three times and the award is now in his name.
"At first we weren't the closest of friends, we didn't really interact," Vagenas said. "But as the years went on, especially toward the end, he was one of my closest confidants and I'd like to say that I was the same to him. The thing that I can say is he is one of the fairest men that I've known."
Vagenas said he often thinks of Hamilton, but remembered back to that fateful trip to San Jose, Costa Rica when Houston Dynamo played Saprissa Wednesday night in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinal.
After losing to Saprissa in overtime, the Galaxy were at a resort in Costa Rica, under orders to rest and relax for a few days by Hamilton, who was set to return to Los Angeles with members of the Galaxy staff.
The team was enjoying dinner when word began to filter in about Hamilton's heart attack. Then-coach Steve Sampson huddled the team together in a secluded area by a swimming pool at the resort to tell them about Hamilton's death.
"We were just shellshocked, absolutely shellshocked," Vagenas said. "To this day it's a conversation I remember as if it was yesterday because it was truly something that realigns your perspective. The first thing we all thought of was (his wife) Paige and Aedan. I just remember us being helpless because we didn't know what to do."
Saturday's event is a start.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
