 He played two years of college soccer at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he started all 39 games of his freshman and sophomore seasons and was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Co-Freshman of the Year in 2001, and a First Team All-Conference, First Team All-Region, and Third Team All-American his sophomore year
before transferring to the University of Louisville as a junior.At Louisville he started 34 games over the course of 2004 and 2005, and was named Co-Most Valuable Player and Defensive Most Valuable Player by his teammates in 2004.Velten turned professional in 2007 when he joined the Harrisburg City Islanders in the USL Second Division, and was part of the USL-2 championship-winning team in his debut season.