Steve Famiglietta

Head Coach Steve Famiglietta who is also known as “Fami” in the local soccer community, is a USL soccer Hall of Famer and is a well-known soccer icon who has dedicated his entire life to the sport.

Steve Familgietta

Jannette Orozco @djannetteo

Famiglietta is originally from Long Island, New York and moved to Rio Rancho, New Mexico with his family when he was in elementary school. He attended Cibola High School where he followed up his education at the University of New Mexico playing soccer.

After playing at UNM, Famiglietta went on to play in the Southwest Indoor Soccer League (SISL) which later became the United Soccer League (USL) and continued to play indoor and outdoor soccer for numerous teams where he played as a player-coach on several of those teams.

His accomplishments in professional soccer are stacked and include being named to the USL All-Star team three times along with being named the USL Defensive Player of The Year twice. Prior to Famiglietta’s last season, he represented the USL touring Russia and since his playing career, he has been inducted into the USL Hall of Fame as well as the Cibola High School Sports Hall of Fame.

Coach, how are you? Thank you so much for taking time out of your day. Tell us about yourself and how your career in soccer got started.

I started playing as a kid in New York. Unfortunately my family wasn’t in a position to place me on a team, so I only played in the playground at school or in the yard with the neighborhood kids.

Our lives revolve so much around emotion, whether it’s in work or family life. If you were forced to choose only one, which emotion, more than any other, drives you to stay involved in such a competitive sport? Is it joy, anger, desire, passion or pride and why?

Love - We all have history, some good/some bad. Soccer is the only thing, outside of God, that has never let me down.

You have been a player and now a coach. What was your biggest challenge as a player? And now as a coach? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?

My biggest challenge as a player was knowing someday it would come to an end. The only only way to overcome that is acceptance. As a coach, you are always limited by your players abilities. You can continue to teach all players, however I’ve found with adults it’s more about inspiration.

The only way to overcome this challenge is keep inspiring them. You have had a great run and continue to shine. What has been your biggest accomplishment? Thank you for your kind words. However, all my accomplishments have to be shared with my coaches, mentors, teammates and opponents.

My greatest accomplishment is every time I have a player from the past let me know how much I impacted their lives. That’s way better than being just a player or coach.

Soccer culture is different in every state, especially in other countries. Tell us how you feel the soccer culture is in New Mexico vs other states, countries?

It is definitely becoming a more embraced sport. Which is so awesome. Although, we have a very long way to go to catch up to other states let alone other countries.

Tell us what it has been like being part of New Mexico Runners Arena Soccer Team.

An absolute pleasure. It’s great to contribute to somebody else’s dreams.

Do you have any advice for an up and coming athletes and/or coach that would like to follow in your footsteps?

DREAM!!!!! Don’t give up until it is made abundantly clear to move on.

I’m sure you have met and shared fields with many talented and possibly decorated athletes along the way. Tell us how those individuals made an impact in your life and career.

I always felt most of my teammates and opponents were more talented than me. That was complete motivation for me. I never expected to be better than anyone. I just wasn’t going to let them individually beat me during competition and for me everything was a competition.

A little off subject… but I feel that music can often play a big role in our lives. What artists have made you who you are today?

I love music and enjoy many artists. I’m always amazed how some songs absolutely nail what I’m going through. As for helping define who I am today I would say it’s more about my experiences vs. music. I’m sure however for the up and coming music artists the lists are endless.

Again, thank you for sharing with us, Coach. I’m honored for your interest.

Connect with Steve Famiglietta on Instagram at: @therealstevefamiglietta

High School Honors

Four-year letterman in Soccer, 1982 All District and All State First Team, 1983 All District and All State First Team, 1983 Team’s Most Valuable Player, 1984 High School All-American

College Career

Full Scholarship to University of New Mexico for Soccer. He played only one season. After one season for UNM, Steve was recruited to play in the Southwest Indoor Soccer League (SISL).

Andres Trujillo - New Mexico Runners Owner with Coach Steve Famiglietta

Professional Playing Career

1986 Albuquerque Outlaws, USL, Inaugural Year • 1987-1988

Albuquerque Gunners, USL • 1988 New Mexico Chiles

USL • 1988-1993

Colorado Comets, USL • 1989

USL All Star Team, Russian Tour • 1994-1995

Amarillo Challengers, USL (player/coach) • 2006-2008

New Mexico Banditos, PASL, (player/coach)

2-time USL Defensive Player of the Year 1987,1988

3-time USL All Star 3-time USL All Star even touring the former Soviet Union as part of the USL All Star Team

Coaching Career

1980-1997 Rio Rancho Soccer Club- Staff Coach, Director of Coaching • 1997-2000

FC West Soccer Club, Director of Coaching • 2000-2003

Sandia Prep, Assistant Coach • 2000-2002

Zia Soccer Club, Assistant Director of Coaching • 2002-2017 *various years NMYSA

Olympic Development Program, Coach • 2003-2006

Albuquerque United FC, Asst. Director of Coaching • 2008-2011

Albuquerque United FC Head Coach • 2011-2019

Albuquerque United FC Technical Director • 2006-2008

New Mexico Clash Soccer, Director of Coaching • 2015-2018

US Soccer, player scout • 2018-current

Rio Rapids Soccer Club, Head Coach • 2019

Coach Steve with his son, Nick Famiglietta.

USA Men’s Indoor National Team, Coaching Staff • 2019

New Mexico Runners MASL2 , Head Coach • 2018-current

Honors

2006 Inducted in the USL Hall of Fame in 2006 as a President’s Selection.

2007 The city of Rio Rancho recognized Steve after his USL induction with an award

2010 Cibola High School Athletic Hall of Fame

2019 MLS Colorado Rapids Coaches Symposium Guest Coach