Shorecrest Athlete Dies In Sleep -- 18-Year-Old Scot Chambers' Sudden Deatrh Stuns Community

They think it might have been congenital heart failure. But nobody knows for sure what took Scott Chambers' 18-year-old life as he slept in the hours after his Shorecrest High School football game Friday night.

Family members hope to find out in a few weeks how, but will always struggle with why their strong football player, their fleet soccer player, their son, is gone.

"I've never lost a person that I've loved this much," said Scott's father, Dave Chambers, the longtime Lake Washington High School baseball coach. "I can't put into words the sense of loss."

An initial autopsy didn't reveal a specific cause of death, he said, so further tests are being performed, the results of which are expected in three to four weeks.

His death doesn't appear to be football related.

Scott, a starting senior cornerback for the Shorecrest football team, had played in Friday's game against Cascade, but the medical examiner found no injury that might have led to his death. And Greg Tacon, Shorecrest's defensive coordinator, said he watched the game tape over the weekend and didn't see any dangerous plays involving Chambers.

Which makes it all seem so much more sudden.

"You just don't expect an 18-year-old kid who's in tip-top shape and never had a day of poor health to fall asleep and . . . die," said Dave Chambers, who teaches at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland.

At Seattle's Shorecrest, coaches, administrators and teammates said similar things about Scott: He was quiet, hard working, respectful, dedicated.

"He was a nice guy. He always stayed out of trouble," said Gavin Sullivan, a teammate and friend. "On most Friday nights, he went to his church group instead of going to a party."

Sullivan was a teammate in football and soccer. Both started at cornerback in football and started in soccer (Chambers at midfield, Sullivan at defender). Chambers' only sibling, twin brother Reece, also is a starter on the Shorecrest soccer team.

"He was a perfect guy. You couldn't ask more from a friend and from a teammate," said Sullivan, who plans to wear Chambers' uniform number - 26 - on a towel tucked into the front of his pants against this week's football opponent, Mariner. "He was a great athlete. He worked hard, and he had a commitment to the team. He was always giving of himself for the team. He didn't care if he scored two touchdowns or not. It was the team that was important."

Tacon recalled a play late in the third quarter in which Chambers got his hands on a Cascade pass. But, partly because of the sloppy playing conditions, the ball slipped away.

It would have been Chambers' first varsity interception.

"After the game, he was bright eyed," Paul Lesh, Shorecrest's head football coach, said. "In fact, we talked about the near interception. He said, `Oh, I was so close!' It was a great effort."

Sports were not Chambers' only passion.

As a junior, he attended classes offered through the North East Vocational Area Cooperative (NEVAC), where he learned about fire fighting.

Chambers also did well in school, carrying about a B average.

"He was really involved with (NEVAC)," said Susan Derse, Shorecrest principal. "He was a strong student, a hard worker and he was very well respected by his peers."

Derse said additional counselors were brought to Shorecrest to help students deal with their grief and emotions.

Lesh canceled yesterday's practice to meet with the players. The Shorecrest coaching staff listened, and offered advice on how to cope with Chambers' death.

Senior Dan Lloyd is getting No. 26 silk-screened on the front of Shorecrest's uniforms for the seniors and team captains. The entire team will wear decals of the number on the backs of their helmets, Lesh said.

The Scots, contenders for a playoff berth, have dedicated Friday's game against Mariner to Chambers. The game is 7:30 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium.

Ryan Schaeffer, a teammate in football and soccer, paid tribute to Chambers over the weekend. After hearing of Chambers' death, Schaeffer played in a soccer match for the Seattle Americans, the club team Schaeffer, Chambers and Sullivan played for.

Schaeffer scored three goals in the 4-2 victory.

"You never had to worry where Scott Chambers was on the field. Scott Chambers was always where he was supposed to be," Lesh said. "He always led by example. He was the type of kid that was a real pleasure to coach.

"He was quite a kid, a great kid."

Chambers was found Saturday afternoon by his father.

Scott had locked his bedroom door Friday night when he went to bed, anticipating he might become the latest subject of an early-morning "kidnapping" by the Sunshine Club. The club is composed of a group of teens from his church who weekly pick a member to rouse from bed early Saturday and drag half-dressed into public - all the while videotaping the incident to show later in the week.

Scott's parents and Reece all left for work and other activities Saturday morning, leaving Scott alone in the house most of the day.

Dave Chambers came home just after 4 p.m. "When I got home, the door was still locked," he said, "and I shook it and tried to get a response, but there was no noise. I thought he must have gone and somehow locked the door behind him, so I sat down and started to watch the World Series."

That lasted for only a few minutes before he decided he'd better make sure nothing was wrong and went back to the door. He wound up removing the doorknob to get into the room where Scott lay.

"I know time will work its healing process, but the loss will always be there," Dave Chambers said. "It's going to hit me at certain times. . . . But I'm going to keep teaching and keep coaching and keep taking care of my family and moving forward."

It was the second Seattle-area football player to die in two weeks. David Bosse, 14, a ninth-grader at Rose Hill Junior High in Kirkland, died Oct. 7 of head injuries suffered in a game.

A memorial service is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday at Shoreline Community Church, across from Shoreline Community Center on Northeast 185th. A graveside service at Evergreen-Washelli in Seattle is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m.