Steve Rammel (born April 20, 1968) is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a forward. 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 professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. 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 area#United States, 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 p ...

High school and college

Rammel attended West Deptford High School 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 ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

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 A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

where it lost in penalty kicks to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. Rammel was selected as a first team All American 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 soc ...

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 Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

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.

Penn-Jersey Spirit

In 1991, Rammel spent seven games, scoring two goals, with the Penn-Jersey Spirit 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. ...

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) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

where he earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

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 of the

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. On April 19, 1996, D.C. United 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 An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

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 are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

. 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 Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

for

Roy Wegerle Roy Wegerle (born March 19, 1964) is a former professional soccer and golf player. Wegerle was a United States international player who appeared for the national team 41 times between 1992 and 1998. Born and raised in South Africa, he was nat ...

. 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 career

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 college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...

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 The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

. 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.

Honors

Individual * MLS All-Star Game, MLS All-Star:

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

All-Star Game flashback, 1996
at MLSsoccer.com

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rammel, Steve All-American college men's soccer players 1968 births Living people Sportspeople 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 men's 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 Men's association football forwards Saint Mary's Gaels men's soccer coaches 20th-century American sportsmen