Steve Rammel (born April 20, 1968) is a retired American soccer player who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Rammel spent five seasons in the U.S. and German lower divisions before playing two seasons in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

. After retiring from playing in 1997, he served for many years as both an assistant and head coach for both college and professional teams. He was previously the executive director for the West Florida Flames Futbol Club in

Brandon, Florida Brandon is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 114,626 at the 2020 ...

High school and college

Rammel attended

West Deptford High School West Deptford High School is a comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from West Deptford Township, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States. It is the sole secondary school of th ...

in New Jersey where he played for the school's boys soccer team. He helped lead the team to two New Jersey state championships, being named the 1986 Parade Magazine's National High School Player of the Year. After high school, Rammel attended and played soccer for The University of Connecticut from 1987 to 1989. He then transferred to

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

where he played for its men's soccer team for the 1989 and 1990 seasons. In 1989, Rutgers went to the NCAA Final Four and, in Rammel's senior year, the team made it to the

championship game In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

where it lost in penalty kicks to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. Rammel was selected as a first team

All American The designation All American often refers to the hyphenated term All-American, a noun or adjective denoting players selected for an All-America sports team. Of an individual, all-American may mean that the person (often male) expresses the qualiti ...

his senior year and was second behind

Ken Snow Kenneth Snow (June 23, 1969 – June 21, 2020) was an American soccer forward who was a two-time winner of the Hermann Trophy as the outstanding college soccer player in 1988 and 1990. He had an eight-year professional career playing indoor socc ...

in the voting for the 1990

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

. Rammel finished his career with the Scarlet Knights with 44 goals in 86 games In 1991, he graduated with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

Playing career

National team

In 1991, Rammel was called into the U.S. national team camp, but never made a game day roster. However, he did play for the B-team in the

1991 World University Games __NOTOC__ The 1991 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XVI Summer Universiade and generally referred to as the World Student Games, were held in Sheffield, England from 14 to 25 July 1991. The Games were the largest sporting event to be ho ...

Penn-Jersey Spirit

In 1991, Rammel spent seven games, scoring two goals, with the

Penn-Jersey Spirit Penn-Jersey Spirit played in the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 and 1991. The team's home stadium was Lions Stadium in Ewing, New Jersey, on the campus of Trenton State College (today known as the College of New Jersey). The team al ...

of the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

Germany

Rammel then moved to Europe where he played for German lower division clubs SC Norderstedt in 1991-1992 and Tus Celle in 1992-1993. In 1994, Rammel returned to school at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

where he earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Business Administration in Finance in 1996. While studying, he also served as an assistant coach with the

men's soccer team.

MLS

In 1996, Rammel joined the

Washington Mustangs The Washington Mustangs were an United States, American soccer team that played in Washington, DC in the now-defunct United States Interregional Soccer League. Year-by-year

Defunct soccer clubs in Washington, D.C. USISL teams Association foo ...

of the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. On April 19, 1996,

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Su ...

acquired Rammel on loan from the Mustangs. They were impressed enough that they purchased his contract on May 3, 1996. He became an All Star that season, scoring 17 regular season and play off goals. He also scored the first MLS hat trick in a May 15, 1996 victory over the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as on ...

. His scoring touch deserted him in 1997 and after eleven games the team traded him on July 3, 1997 to the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

for

Roy Wegerle Roy Wegerle (born March 19, 1964) is a former United States international soccer player who appeared for the national team 41 times between 1992 and 1998. Born and raised in South Africa, he was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1991. Since retiri ...

. Rammel played the rest of the 1997 season with Colorado, never scoring a goal for the team. However, he did play 90 minutes in the championship game as the Rapids lost to United. On March 5, 1998, during the pre-season, the Rapids traded Rammel to the MetroStars for a 1999 first round supplemental draft choice. Two weeks later Rammel announced he planned to retire from playing and join

as an assistant men's soccer coach. The MetroStars were allowed to keep their draft pick.

Coaching

Rammel had already re-entered the coaching ranks while with Colorado, becoming the Assistant Director of Coaching for the Colorado Rush youth club. However, his move to UCLA began a seven-year period where he devoted himself to coaching. Rammel was an assistant at UCLA for three years before moving to

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a private Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate pr ...

as the head men's soccer coach. He joined the team on March 29, 2001 and left five seasons later with a 32-54-10 record. On December 15, 2005, he left St. Mary's to become an assistant coach under

Steve Sampson Mark Stephen Sampson (born January 19, 1957) is an American soccer coach. He is also the former head coach of both the United States men's national team and the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Collegiate career Sampson attended UCL ...

at the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

. When Sampson was fired, the Galaxy purged the coaching ranks, firing Rammel in June 2006.
/sup> On January 26, 2007, the Santa Rosa United youth club hired Rammel as the club's executive director.

References

External links

Colorado Rapids Bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rammel, Steve All-American men's college soccer players 1968 births Living people People from Bridgeton, New Jersey Soccer players from New Jersey TuS Celle FC players Major League Soccer players Colorado Rapids players D.C. United players American soccer players American soccer coaches American Professional Soccer League players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' soccer) Penn-Jersey Spirit players Washington Mustangs players Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Association football forwards Saint Mary's Gaels men's soccer coaches