Background
Santel was born and raised in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Santel was born and raised in Saint Louis, Missouri.
He also attended Christian Brothers College High School where he played on the boy’s soccer team, earning team Most Valuable Player honors in 1988. After graduating from high school, Santel attended Saint Louis University where he played on the men’s soccer team
Santel played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and Major Soccer League. He also earned eight caps with the United States. national team between 1988 and 1997. He was a 1989 Second Team and a 1988 and 1990 First Team All American.
In 1991, the Wichita Wings of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) drafted Santel.
However, he actually played the 1991-1992 season with the Saint Louis Storm (MISL). In 1992 he began playing for the Colorado Foxes of the American Soccer League (APSL) and would remain with the team through the 1995 season.
As Major League Soccer (Master of Library Science) prepared for its first season, it signed dozens of players to league contracts. In order to ensure an initial equitable distribution of talent, the league allocated high profile players to each team
As part of this process, Master of Library Science allocated Santel to the Dallas Burn.
In both 1996 and 1997, Santel was elected to the Master of Library Science All Star team On December 4, 2000, the Burn traded Santel to the Kansas City Wizards for a third round draft pick. He spent one season with the Wizards, playing twenty-one games before retiring at the end of the season.
Santel went on to earn eight caps, scoring one goal, with the senior United States. national team between 1988 and 1997.
His first game with the full national team came in a January 10, 1988 loss to Guatemala. He did not appear again with the national team until February 1, 1991.
Then he played sporadically until his last game in 1997. His national team goal came in a November 14, 1993 shellacking of the Caymen Islands.
Final score was 8-1.
In 2002, the Lou Fusz Soccer Club of Saint Louis hired Santel as its girl’s program director
He is the head coach of the boys soccer team and the girls soccer team at Barat Academy. In December 2004, he was hired as the sales and marketing representative for Velocity Sports Performance, a sports training facility in Chesterfield, Missouri. He is also the co-author of the children's book Soccer Dreamin’.
He played soccer from youth as a member of the renowned local club Scott Gallagher. He was a member of both the 1992 and 1993 APSL champsionship teams. In 1987, Santel was a member of the United States men"s national under-20 soccer team at the 1987 Fédération internationale de football association World Championship.