U.S. soccer pioneer Steinbrecher still counts his blessings

Hank Steinbrecher walks outside a downtown Glen Ellyn restaurant, looks up at a beautiful mid-afternoon blue sky and exclaims, "What a great day."

You can understand why he's so thankful for every day.

And then you look at him and silently wonder what is wrong with him. Why isn't this U.S. soccer hall of famer absolutely paralyzed by fear and worry?

'He's a hero to me' In the early 1990s Chad Steinbrecher patrolled the midfield for the Glenbard West High School soccer team, a skilled midfielder when the Hilltoppers were one of the top teams in the Chicago area. These days Chad is patrolling some street who knows where. His parents, Hank and Ruth Anne, don't. "We don't know," Hank Steinbrecher says, naming five countries on three continents as possibilities. "Could be anywhere. Could be anywhere."All they know is that their Navy SEAL son, a 1999 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, is on his eighth deployment."It doesn't get any easier," Hank Steinbrecher says he and his wife decided. "It's as difficult the eighth time as it was the first time. I cry. He's gone again. "But this is what he does. This is his life as a warrior. He loves our country. He knows what he's doing is right. I've met very few men with more integrity than him. He's a hero. He's a hero to me."Steinbrecher puffs out his chest with pride. He's entitled.Hank Steinbrecher has heard some of his son's stories and understands that it's probably best he not know where the Lt. Commander is or what he's doing. It's enough for Hank Steinbrecher to know that there is evil in this world, and there are men like Chad Steinbrecher fighting it.The bossHank Steinbrecher has fought plenty of fights himself. Of course, dealing with soccer politics is nothing like chasing the Taliban, but it's not for the faint of heart, either.He started as a college soccer coach, taking a leave of absence from Boston University to lead the Harvard University soccer venue during the 1984 Olympics. That led to a marketing job at Gatorade, and in 1990 Alan Rothenberg asked Steinbrecher to become Secretary General of what was then called the U.S. Soccer Federation, based in Colorado Springs at the time. Under Steinbrecher's watch - he signed the checks until "retiring" in 2000 - U.S. Soccer experienced growth like it had never seen before. "I don't think I was responsible for any one thing, but I was in the middle of all of it," he says. "And they were big years for U.S. Soccer. "A move to Chicago. A change-around in our corporate view. An exponential growth in our budgets. A successful management of a World Cup (in 1994). The performance of the women's national team in '91, '96. Bringing the Women's World Cup in 1999 to the United States. The victories of the 1999 Women's World Cup. The creation of MLS. "I cannot take any accolades for any of it, because I know too many people who were involved too heavily. But I was in the middle of all of it. I had a front-row seat to all of it."If anyone could convince him to write a book, it would be a heck of a read. This is a man who has plenty of stories and knows how to tell them.That lifestyle took its toll, however. He estimates he was on the road 47 weekends a year for 10 years. The time was right for him to leave, with Dan Flynn taking over U.S. Soccer."I think they're in terrific hands," Steinbrecher says. "I'm not one of those who will leave and say those guys really screwed it up, because they haven't. The sport is on solid ground. I think we're probably where we ought to be at this juncture of our evolution. It's financially really secure. MLS is better than I ever anticipated it being. As a soccer fan now I can watch soccer on TV almost 24 hours a day. "Why would I be unhappy? Because we're not the (English Premier League)? Well, we're not. But I'm very happy with where we are. I think (MLS commissioner) Don Garber has done an incredible job."Now he's a independent consultant, working with eight or nine clients at a time, such as FieldTurf, SkyCam and Rethink. He helped Morocco with its bid to host the 2010 World Cup, a bid that failed by a 14-10 vote. He's still very active in the soccer community, still giving his passport a workout."Pages sewn into pages," Steinbrecher jokes.He's a regular at Toyota Park, going to Fire and Red Stars games whenever he's in town."They're my teams," Steinbrecher says. "I support them. When I travel around the world people say, Who's your club? Who do you support? And they expect me to say Bayern Munich or some German name. I say no, Chicago Fire. That's my team. That's who I support."The white lightSteinbrecher, now 63, almost died in 2003.He came home from Morocco to see younger son Corey, then a professional bicycle racer, ride in a Criterium in Downers Grove. He wound up in the hospital, with doctors believing he contracted a virus in China that attacked his heart."My pulse was under 30, and I crashed while I was at the hospital," Steinbrecher says. "Saw the white light. They obviously revived me, set me up with a pacemaker. I have what's called complete heart block, which means I get no pulse at all. I live completely off a pacemaker. So that kind of puts things in perspective for you."It's why he enjoys a sunny day in March. And why not? He and Ruth Anne, the director of disaster planning for the American Medical Association - "My wife has the most important job of us all" - have been happily married for 40 years. He calls both his sons his heroes. And his professional life has been a thrill ride."I was able to serve the greater cause during my life, which is the cause of developing soccer in America," he says. "I saw my game at the highest level one can possibly see. I don't know if a life gets better. I just don't know if a life gets better. And every day I get up and I'm enjoying it. "So I have nothing to be unhappy about, only things to be happy about. That day was a life-changing experience for me. I'm a thoroughly blessed guy. That's why I have the glow on all the time. People say, why are you so happy? Hey, what do I have to be sad about?"oschwarz@dailyherald.com