| Fred Schmalz | |
| Birth Place: | St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
| Youthyears1: | 1964–1966 |
| Youthclubs1: | Quincy Hawks |
| Manageryears1: | 1969–1970 |
| Managerclubs1: | Wyoming |
| Manageryears2: | 1970–72 |
| Managerclubs2: | Davis & Elkins Senators (assistant) |
| Manageryears3: | 1973–78 |
| Manageryears4: | 1979–2002 |
| Managerclubs4: | Evansville Purple Aces |
Fred Schmalz is a retired American soccer coach. He coached at the collegiate level for 33 years. He was a National Coach of the Year and has been named to six Halls of Fame for his play and his coaching successes.[1]
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Schmalz is a graduate of Quincy College, in Quincy, Illinois, where he played on the school's first intercollegiate team in 1964 and was a member of the 1966 team that won the first of Quincy's record eleven NAIA National Championships.[2] [3] [4]
Following his graduation from Quincy, Schmalz was a physical education instructor at the University of Wyoming before becoming an assistant coach at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia. After three seasons, he was named Davis & Elkins' head coach in 1973, and in six seasons, led the team to a record of 91–21–5[5] and six NAIA tournaments, including a second-place finish in 1974.[4]
In 1979, Schmalz was named the third head coach of the University of Evansville Purple Aces in Evansville, Indiana. In eight seasons as an independent, seven as a member of the Midwestern City/Midwestern Collegiate Conference, and nine as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Schmalz' Purple Aces teams built a record of 302–165–49, won six conference tournaments (5 MCC, 1 MVC), and advanced to the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship eleven times, including nine years in a row from 1984 through 1992, with third-place finishes in the NCAA College Cup in 1985 and 1990.[6] [7] Among the players Schmalz mentored at Evansville were 13 All-Americans, 17 Academic All-Americans, and 31 who went on to play professionally.[5]
In addition to his collegiate coaching, Schmalz was a U.S. Soccer Federation national staff coach and coached in six Olympic Sports Festivals.[8]
Although "retired," Schmalz has continued to work with youth soccer in Evansville.
1985 Soccer America College Coach of the Year.[5]
1988 Bill Jeffrey Award from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) "...recognizing long-term service to collegiate soccer."[9]
Schmalz was the recipient of the first Ron Wigg Award in 1998—the highest honor presented by the U.S. Olympic Development Program.[10]
Schmalz was the first to coach gold medal-winning soccer teams from separate regions in the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival, coaching the West in 1990 and the North in 1991.[5]
Quincy Hawks Hall of Fame Class of 1993.[2]
The Indiana Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 1997.[11]
Davis & Elkins College Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2003.[12]
University of Evansville Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2003–04.[13]
Saint Louis Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2009.[14]
The Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame Class of 2011.[5]