Garth Lagerwey


Garth Lagerwey is a retired American soccer player who played five seasons in Major League Soccer as a goalkeeper. He became the general manager of Real Salt Lake in 2007 and stayed with the club before departing in 2015 for Seattle Sounders FC, where Lagerwey is currently the general manager and president of soccer.

Youth

Lagerwey grew up in Elmhurst, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and played club soccer with the Chicago Magic. He attended York High School, where he was a two time all-state soccer goalkeeper. After graduating from high school in 1990, he moved to Germany and signed with SC Freiburg, spending a season with the reserve team before returning to the United States. Lagerwey entered Duke University and played on the men's soccer team from 1991 to 1994. He graduated in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in history.

Playing career

In 1993, Lagerwey spent the collegiate off-season with the Raleigh Flyers in the USISL. He then played the 1994 season with the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers, also in the USISL. In 1995, he signed with the Hampton Roads Mariners.
In February 1996, D.C. United selected Lagerwey in the 15th round of the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft. United then traded him to the Kansas City Wiz in exchange for Jeff Causey. Lagerwey was Kansas City's starting goalkeeper for much of the season, playing 23 games. In 1997, he moved to the Dallas Burn where he played only ten games over two seasons before being waived on October 31, 1998. In 1997, the Burn sent him on loan to the Hershey Wildcats and in 1998, he went on loan to the Gamblers. The Colorado Rapids selected Lagerwey in the November 1998 waiver draft, but was waived on February 23, 1999. He then signed with the Miami Fusion where he played mostly as a backup, but still entered 18 games. The team waived him at the end of the 2000 season.

Retirement

Lagerwey retired from playing in 2000. In 2000, Lagerwey became a guest columnist with Sports Illustrated. He later worked as a television commentator for D.C. United. Following his retirement from playing, Lagerwey held positions in the broadcast media. In 2001, he entered Georgetown University, graduating with a law degree in 2004. He was then hired as an attorney with Latham & Watkins.

Management

On September 19, 2007, Real Salt Lake announced Lagerwey was hired as the team's senior vice president and general manager. After serving for seven years with Real Salt Lake, Lagerwey moved to conference rivals Seattle Sounders FC for the 2015 season.