Remembering Severini and Pickett, two coaches who made a difference

The line wound around the funeral home, snaked across the front hall past the Pele photo and out the front door, down the sidewalk to the next block, around a corner.

Here's the thing: People in that line outside the Stretch Funeral Home in Havertown last week were pleased it was so long, up to 21/2 hours, to honor George Severini. Not just John Chaney paid his respects but grade school girls wearing matching camp T-shirts. An Immaculata University soccer player was there to explain to the family that if it weren't for George, he wouldn't be playing college soccer. A little boy showed up with a shirt that said Soccer School. Could he leave it with George?

There were coaches who began as players under Severini. Teammates who played for him who hadn't connected in 20 years until they spotted one another in line. Older teammates of his were there, and three or four custodians from the high school, who always let George and his sons in and locked up after them.

"It made me feel very special to have had my dad as my father," Nico Severini, now the head soccer coach at Lower Merion High, said about the line, which stretched past viewing hours. "He's not a celebrity."

Later that same week, another long line formed in Chester for another coach, another unique man. Fred Pickett's casket was put at midcourt on the floor of the gym at Chester High, which will now be known as the Fred Pickett Jr. Gymnasium.

The next day, this past Saturday, another crowd filled the First Pentecostal Holy Church on Pusey Street in Chester. Jameer Nelson, the most celebrated of Pickett's former players, played a game in Utah the night before, flew with the Mavericks back to Dallas long after midnight, then flew to Philly early in the morning.

Whatever that says about Nelson, it says more about Pickett, who won three state titles as Chester's coach, and seven straight district titles, among greater achievements. John Linehan, another former Clippers star, came in from France. Nobody was surprised. Back when he was Chester's assistant, Pickett was the guy always driving players to Upward Bound at Swarthmore College, getting them to summer-league games. He worked all kinds of jobs but his mission was Chester basketball.

His funeral service lasted more than four hours. Nine pastors were on the altar. Seven of them spoke. The mayor and the former mayor spoke. Former Chester player Raymond Strickland, in from Houston, explained in his remarks how Pickett "accepted your faults but expected you to learn from them."

If Pickett had a fault it was also a strength. He believed that any college team would be better with a Chester Clipper on its roster and thought a little less of coaches who didn't quite see a fit. His own teams always had talent but never counted on that being enough. Every foot of the court would be contested.

Saturday would have been Fred Pickett's 61st birthday. The extraordinary service ended with the church singing Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday." At least five current or former Division I head coaches were in attendance, honoring a man with a tender heart in a tough town.

George Severini's given name was Jorge. He was a professional soccer player in Argentina before moving here, playing for the NASL's Philadelphia Atoms and other top local squads. He always introduced himself as George and named his younger son George as well.

He never talked much about his accomplishments. He'd tell some people he played against Pele, and then show them a photo where a cartoon head of Pele was superimposed on some soccer player. "I knew you were kidding," they would say. Then he would show the real photo, of a younger, bearded version of himself in soccer gear, next to Pele in his gear, clearly right after a game.

A strong argument should be made that Severini bore some responsibility for Argentina winning a gold medal in basketball at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The point guard on that team was former Temple great Pepe Sanchez, who had seven assists in upsetting the United States in the semifinal and five assists in the final game. Who knows exactly what kind of player Sanchez would have been if Severini hadn't brought him to John Chaney's attention and let his skills spin through Chaney's four-year boot camp?

A side story: Severini sent Chaney a tape of the teenage Sanchez in action. A Temple graduate assistant and a manager first saw the tape, saw Pepe throw a couple of wild passes, and simply fast-forwarded past that part of the tape, knowing the turnover-phobic Chaney would probably pass on the kid if he saw those crazy passes.

Severini, 67, who had also played high-level basketball in Argentina, coached soccer at Haverford High for 22 years. He ran all sorts of local camps and clinics, making a living from the sport he loved, a pied piper with soft eyes and an easy smile. The town had soccer teams before him but he created a soccer culture. The little boy who brought his yellow shirt must have understood that. He gave the shirt to George's widow of 35 years, Maria, who placed it over the side of the open casket.