While preparing for the 2015 season, Sounders FC wanted to try something new. The club hadn’t made a preseason trip to the Los Angeles area since its inaugural MLS season, and when Mt. San Antonio College became an option, Sigi Schmid and his staff decided on a camp in Southern California.
Sounders FC is now four days into the trip, one that will be particularly enjoyable for its Head Coach later this week. The club is to play friendlies with two of Schmid’s former teams: the UCLA Bruins and LA Galaxy.
A member of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame, Schmid had a major impact on the Bruins’ soccer program as a player and coach. He started in the midfield for four straight years from 1971-1975 as UCLA reached two national championship matches. After taking over as Head Coach in 1980, Schmid guided the Bruins to national titles in 1985, 1990 and 1997.
Schmid’s impact on the program is still felt decades later. UCLA remains one of the best collegiate programs in the nation, a team that lost in last season’s title game on penalty kicks.
Schmid looks forward to reuniting with the Bruins on Wednesday.
“It’ll be fun because since I’ve coached in the league and left LA, I haven’t had a chance to coach against UCLA,” he said. “So that’ll be a little bit different. That’ll be fun.”
Two days after playing a friendly against the Bruins, Sounders FC will face its rival Galaxy. Schmid, who has the most victories of any coach in MLS history, got his first job in the league when he left UCLA for the Galaxy in 1999. He was named MLS Coach of the Year in his very first season with LA and guided the club to an MLS Cup in 2002.
Friday’s match features the two teams that battled for the Supporters’ Shield and Western Conference Championship last season. According to Schmid, the Rave Green will use the friendly to experiment with various lineups and combinations. One example could be Lamar Neagle playing forward alongside Obafemi Martins while Clint Dempsey is away at U.S. National Team camp.
“The Galaxy will be at the same stage we’re at,” Schmid said. “So it’s one of those things where we’ll probably play two different groups, each for 45 minutes.
“We’re trying to continue working on our shape, on our spacing, and on our ability to connect passes. We’ll look at groups that fit well together and continue to evaluate new players.”
