A Hamilton Returns Home (Depot Center)

Stephen Hamilton, the younger brother of late Galaxy GM Doug Hamilton, has joined Chivas USA in the newly-created position of vice president of soccer operations, the club announced today.

Hamilton, 36, "will oversee all aspects of Chivas USA’s technical staff and player development initiatives – including player identification, acquisition and development – from the club’s successful first team to its pioneering youth development teams and Chivas USA Soccer Academies," according to the club's press release.

Those responsibilities sound a lot like what most clubs would call a director of soccer.

Hamilton was plundered from the executive ranks of Anschutz Entertainment Group, the Galaxy's parent company, by Shawn Hunter, who left AEG in September to take a part-ownership in Chivas USA as its president and CEO. Hunter worked for AEG for five years as its chief marketing of officer and president of sports and worked alongside Hamilton.

From the Chivas USA press release:

“In more than a decade of service to the sport of soccer in the United States, Stephen Hamilton has established himself as one of the bright young minds in the business,” said Chivas USA President and CEO Shawn Hunter. “I am pleased to welcome Stephen to the Chivas USA family, and am confident his passion and understanding of the sport’s landscape in this country will prove an important asset to our club.”

Hamilton, 36, joins Chivas USA from AEG Sports, where since 2002 he served as the organization’s director of team services, where he helped oversee the operation of as many as six Major League Soccer properties at one time. While at AEG, Hamilton played a key role in developing relationships with renowned international clubs such as Real Madrid, Chelsea FC and Club América of Mexico and to promoting the teams’ exhibition matches in the United States. He also oversaw several non-MLS sports properties, such as the AEG-owned LA Riptide of Major League Lacrosse and the David Beckham Academy in Los Angeles.

Previously, Hamilton served as director of fan development with MLS, as national grassroots manager for soccer for adidas America and as director of business development for cc&c management group. inc., a sports management agency based in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

A native of Hazlet, N.J., Hamilton played collegiate soccer at Appalachian State University and later at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he graduated with a B.S. in Marketing.

Doug Hamilton died at age 44 in March 2006 as he flew back from a Galaxy game in Costa Rica.