American soccer lost a good man when Doug Hamilton passed away in 2006, due to heart complications at the age of 43. He had accomplished quite a bit as a player, coach and executive, and is still remembered today.
The third annual Doug Hamilton Memorial Soccer Classic will be played at Raritan High School in Hamilton's hometown of Hazlet, N.J. on Saturday. Big East rivals Rutgers and Georgetown 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 HS beginning at 4 p.m. Mini youth matches featuring teams from the Hazlet Youth Soccer Association will start at 5:30 p.m.
Hamilton was a stellar player at Raritan High and went on to play for Mike Berticelli at UNC-Greensboro, winning three Division III national championships.
After a decorated collegiate career, Hamilton coached at Greensboro College for three years, leading the team to the Division III title game in 1989. He was inducted into the Greensboro College Hall of Fame in 2007. 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 Miami 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.
Those who are able to make it to Raritan H.S. will not only get to see a quality soccer game, but can also bid on some wonderful collectibles from every MLS squad, as well as a number of WPS teams and a signed Arsenal FC jersey courtesy of former MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis, who is the chief executive of the famed English Premier League squad.
"It's selfish from my standpoint, but I love this event because it's an opportunity for me to see some old friends and to keep Doug's legacy alive," said Stephen Hamilton, Doug's brother and the vice president of soccer operations for Chivas USA. "He meant so much to me and to so many others to whom he was a friend, a teammate, a coach, a mentor or a boss in a number of different places. He was a special guy and it's great that a lot of people recognize that."
"It's selfish from my standpoint, but I love this event because it's an opportunity for me to see some old friends and to keep Doug's legacy alive," said Stephen Hamilton, Doug's brother and the vice president of soccer operations for Chivas USA. "He meant so much to me and to so many others to whom he was a friend, a teammate, a coach, a mentor or a boss in a number of different places. He was a special guy and it's great that a lot of people recognize that."
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