Jim Stamatis (born Kiriaki,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

) is a retired U.S.-Greek

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 ...

and the Chief Executive Officer of The Louis Berger Group. He played professionally in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, Major Indoor Soccer League and American Soccer League.

Youth and college

Stamatis moved to the United States with his family as a youth. He attended Liberty High School in

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. and was selected to the All State Team in 1975.
/sup> After high school, he was recruited by many top colleges but elected to play at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

because of Coach Bahr’s honesty that Stamatis would need to earn a place on the team.
/sup> Stamatis did work hard and developed into one of the top collegiate forwards. In 1978, Stamatis was named as a Division I First-Team All-American (soccer), first team All American. The following year, Stamatis was selected as the 1979 winner of the

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 the ...

, awarded annually to the most outstanding player in all of American college soccer. Penn State also made it to the NCAA championship semifinals that year before losing to eventual winners SIU-E.

National team

His outstanding play with Penn State brought him to the attention of the national team and he was called up to the U-23 national team at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...

and for preparations for the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Professional soccer

In 1980, the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

selected Stamatis in the first round of the

draft. He only played a year in the league before moving to the

Denver Avalanche The Denver Avalanche were an American soccer team based out of Denver, Colorado that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1980 to 1982. Their home arena was McNichols Sports Arena. History In February 1980, the Major Indoor Soccer ...

of Major Indoor Soccer League and the

Pennsylvania Stoners The Pennsylvania Stoners were an American soccer team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2007, the team played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, ...

of the American Soccer League before back injuries cut short his playing career.

Post-soccer career

He had failed to complete his degree while at Penn State, so he decided to enter the

New Jersey Institute of Technology {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

where he graduated with a

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

degree in 1985. His choice of school was influenced by the fact that his fiancée, now wife, was from New Jersey. While in New Jersey, Stamatis continued his association with soccer, now as a coach rather than as a player. He became an assistant coach with the school’s men's soccer team. Stamatis became a civil engineer for the

Louis Berger Group Louis Berger (formerly known as Berger Group Holdings) is a full-service engineering, architecture, planning, environmental, program and construction management and economic development firm based in Morristown, New Jersey. Founded in 1953 in H ...

and rose to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer. While he did not continue to coach soccer after graduating from NJIT, he got back into coaching when his children began playing. His achievements as a coach now include three New Jersey State Cups and two Region I Championships. He has two sons; John, who played at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

from 2005-2008, and William, who currently plays for

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

References

External links

NJIT bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stamatis, Jim 1958 births American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Denver Avalanche players American people of Greek descent North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Pennsylvania Stoners players New Jersey Institute of Technology alumni Penn State Nittany Lions men's soccer players Living people Sportspeople from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Pan American Games competitors for the United States All-American college men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Hermann Trophy men's winners Footballers at the 1979 Pan American Games