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Saying goodbye to a Seattle soccer institution

Editor’s note: In honor of Walter Schmetzer’s passing, we are sharing this story from 2017 that detailed his part in Seattle soccer history.

It was a seminal moment in the shared experience of Seattle area soccer history. To the casual observer it would’ve appeared to be American boys run amok. To Walter Schmetzer, however, it was the inspiration that would launch a business of 43 years and probably thousands of stories.

Forty-some years before Brian Schmetzer delivered an MLS Cup to Puget Sound, his family’s name became synonymous with quality soccer goods dispensed on Lake City Way and, more recently, Aurora Avenue.