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.”
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