Hispanic Heritage Month Spotlight: German Giammattei

German Giammattei has been surrounded by soccer pretty much since he could walk. No other sports were able to truly pique his interest or that of his family’s as he was growing up in Miami. 

“In both sides of the family, soccer’s just been around since I was born,” Giammattei said. “My cousins play, my uncles play, even my grandparents. Everything sports-wise was soccer. There were no other sports really.” 

Both sides of Giammattei’s family hail from places where soccer reigns supreme—his dad, also named German Giammatttei, is originally from El Salvador and his mom, Alejandra Urrea, from Mexico. When the couple had their son in Miami, it was only right they would pass their love of the game down to him.

“Pretty much every weekend, we were always watching soccer,” Giammattei recalled. 

The family’s passion for the game eventually translated into Giammattei carving out a name for himself in the sport. As a high school senior at Ransom Everglades School, he scored 29 goals in 30 games and drew the attention of several colleges.

But Giammattei didn’t just discover his soccer skills growing up in Miami, he also gained a further appreciation for his heritage and for all Hispanic culture as a result of the city’s diverse nature. 

“In Miami, it’s not just Mexicans and Salvadorans,” Giammattei said. “You see everything: Columbians, Venezuelans, Cubans, all types of Hispanics and Latins. And not even just Hispanics, there’s pretty much every race there. It’s pretty cool because you learn a lot of new stuff from all the different cultures.” 

“Miami is just a really fun city to grow up in,” he added. “There’s all different kinds of Latin foods everywhere. Even just the way people speak Spanish, everyone speaks it in a lot of different ways. It’s fun to see.”

As Giammattei has gotten older, he’s also seen the entire city embrace the sport he loves more and more. 

“Before you would go to parks and see people playing baseball or basketball, but now it’s all soccer,” Giammattei said. “You still see a little bit of other sports, but it’s crazy how much Miami’s changed in that way. I love to see it.”

For as much as he loved Miami, Giammattei also greatly valued finding the best fit to play college ball, even if it meant he’d have to go far from home. As it turned out, Amherst College and coach Justin Serpone were the right match for Giammattei and so he made the approximately 1,500-mile trek away from Miami towards Massachusetts.  

That decision paid off in dividends as he turned himself into not only one of the best players in program history, but also one of the best to ever grace Division III men’s soccer. 

Giammattei became the only D-III player to ever win consecutive USC National Player of the Year honors and just the second to win it twice overall. Additionally, he helped the Mammoths to consecutive national championship game appearances and was a two-time first-team All-American. 

However, for Giammattei, the effort he put in behind-the-scenes was a lot more memorable than the 45 goals and many wins he racked up during his three years as a Monarch. 

“A lot of hard work,” he recalled of his time at Amherst. “A lot of hours on the field just grinding. It was also a lot of fun though.”

For as much success as Giammattei had at Amherst, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. He lost one season due to the COVID-19 pandemic cancellations and came up short of sealing any conference titles or national titles in his other years there. 

But even those situations ultimately provided a positive takeaway for Giammattei. 

“Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to go, but you just have to keep pushing through and things will work out in the end,” he said. “Being at Amherst really taught me just the importance of working hard and also trusting your teammates and coaches.”

As he geared up to graduate from Amherst last May, Giammattei had another big decision to make about his future soccer career. He explored pursuing the professional route before ultimately deciding that finding a university where he could compete at the highest level and also get a useful master’s degree was the right move for him.

After he visited a few schools, Maryland quickly separated itself from the rest. 

“I came here, talked to the coaching staff and got to see the academic side of things and it all just worked out perfectly,” Giammattei said. “I felt like this was the best fit for me.”

Giammattei has already started to leave his mark as a Terp, appearing in all nine matches so far. His best game as a Terp came in Maryland’s 6-1 drubbing of longstanding rival Virginia where his nifty footwork and pass led to the second goal of the game before he later tacked on a goal of his own.

As there is every year with a Sasho Cirovski coached team, this year’s group has championship aspirations. Giammattei has the same vision. 

“We’ve had some great games and I think we can keep playing at that level. We have a really good team so I think we can do something special this year.”

And while College Park may be a far cry from Miami, Giammattei has still found ways to make it feel like home, most notably becoming a regular at both Ritchie’s and Taqueria Habanero. 

“I try to find spots like that to kind of remind me of home,” Giammattei said. “Obviously, I think the food (in Miami) is better, but it’s hard to compete so I’m happy with what they have here.”

When Giammattei’s time in College Park comes to a close, he will have a Master’s degree in product management in hand. And while he definitely plans to put it to use in the future, his short-term plan is to pursue professional soccer.

Luckily for him, he has two different countries that he feels closely aligned with that are possible avenues for him to pursue.

“We’ll see how it ends up. It’s more of a down the line decision if it ever comes, but it would be amazing to represent Mexico or El Salvador,” Giammattei said.

Giammattei travels to Mexico two or three times a year to visit his mom’s family who still resides there. He sees his dad’s family much more frequently because they also live in Miami, but he hasn’t been to El Salvador since around sixth grade and is itching to go back. 

Just like there is in all families, there’s some friendly jesting between the two sides. 

“My Mexican cousins always give me a hard time when I say I may want to play for El Salvador and vice versa,” he laughed. 

A man of both countries, Giammetti has never felt torn between the two. Instead, he celebrates the unique perspective it gives him. 

As Hispanic Heritage Month winds down, that’s even more true for the Miami native.

“(The month) is a time for celebration of your roots and your culture and to always be proud of being Hispanic.”