Sporting Kansas City offers its sincere condolences to the Vermillion Family following the passing of former player Scott Vermillion.
Vermillion’s celebration of life will be held at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home in Olathe, Kansas, tomorrow (Jan. 5) at 1 p.m. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the celebration of life will be primarily limited to family members.
Vermillion, who passed away on Dec. 25 at age 44, spent two seasons with the Kansas City Wizards in 1998 to 1999, becoming the first Kansas City native to play for the club. The defender went on to play for the Colorado Rapids and D.C. United, finishing his MLS career with starts in 87 of 95 regular season appearances as well as three goals and eight assists.
Born in Independence, Missouri, Vermillion earned All-American honors at Olathe East High School, where he was the 1994 Kansas High School Male Athlete of the Year. He also represented the United States internationally at the U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels, notably winning a bronze medal with the U.S. at the 1997 World University Games in Italy.
Vermillion played collegiately at the University of Virginia from 1995-1997—competing under legendary head coach Bruce Arena and reaching two NCAA Final Fours—prior to joining Project 40, an MLS development team featuring some of the country’s best young players. He made the jump from Project 40 to the Kansas City Wizards in May of 1998, recording an assist in his MLS debut and scoring his first goal for the club three months later in a win over the Miami Fusion.
