Meet soccer coach Nicholas P! Nicholas is a former college soccer player who stays connected to the sport he loves by helping bring the best out of the athletes he works with. Nicholas enjoys coming up with new and exciting ways to help his players improve their game while working hard and having fun at the same time!
Tell us a little about your soccer history?
I’ve played soccer since I was four years old. I played for a premier soccer club for eight years, varsity high school soccer for three, and collegiate varsity soccer for four years at Lesley University. I have been a private soccer coach for three years and have experience coaching larger groups for about a year.
What is your coaching style or philosophy?
I would say that my coaching style would be encouraging and supportive. I really try to focus on what my athletes do well to keep their confidence high, which in turn inspires them to work harder on the skills that are necessary to improve.
Who is your favorite coach and why?
I idolize Arsene Wenger. Unlike a lot of coaches, he has an amazing eye for young talent and spends more time working with his athletes to help them improve and acclimate them to his system.
What is your favorite moment in your athletic career?
My senior year in high school our team was matched up against a team from a higher division. Our town schedules a game with this team every year and we have lost to this team for 8 consecutive years. The weather was terrible, we as a team had been playing awful soccer but managed to keep the game scoreless. My coach took me out late in the first and refused to put me back in. Frustrated and eager for a chance to prove myself, I mustered up my courage, approached my coach and said “Coach I need to go back in there, I need to play this game, I promise you, you will not regret it”. My Coach looks at me and says “you have ten minutes to make something happen, do not disappoint me”. I run out there and play my hardest for five strong minutes. The whistle blows, foul right over the half line closest to our oppositions goal. As our outside defenseman lines up to take the kick, I start making a run from the opposite sideline towards the goal. The ball is kicked, and I jump the highest I have ever jumped, six yards in front of the other team’s goal. I connect to the ball with a snapping header; the ball skips off the wet turf right past the goalies outstretched arms and straight into the side netting. Our team came alive and played the best defense we have ever played. We beat them for the first time in 8 years. Final score 1-0.
Do you have any success stories from coaching an athlete?
In my young coaching career my favorite success story thus far is a young boy named Sebastian. I started working with him because Sebastian wanted to have more playing time on his team. After two months he is now a consistent starter and ended the season with three goals. We still work together and hopefully in some years to come he will be the main character to many more success stories that I will have the pleasure of telling.
What other sports or activities do you enjoy playing or practicing?
I love all sports, no matter what I will play. Being active and involved in healthy competition is what matters to me, you choose the sport, I will have fun playing you in it.
What’s your favorite sports movie?
My favorite sports movie is Friday Night Lights. It is a movie that reminds me that sports are amazing, exciting, and fun but should never be taken too seriously. Winning isn’t everything.
Do you have a favorite saying?
A saying that I like to use is simple “We practice to be perfect, but do not expect to always be perfect”.
Do you have a favorite sports team?
Arsenal Football Club!
Do you have any special talents or a surprising thing someone might not know about you?
Something someone might not know about me is my love for reading. I really enjoy dramatic, thrilling novels which tends to surprise a lot of people.
Coach Nicholas is booking soccer sessions now! Click here to check out his profile.
