Nick Webster
Nick Webster | |
|---|---|
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| Born | October 7, 1964 |
| Occupation(s) | TV Personality, Coach, Advisor |
Nick Webster (born October 7, 1964) is a soccer personality, host of the World Soccer Talk podcast and acclaimed coach. He was formerly an announcer, senior producer, director, and writer for Fox Soccer Channel and foxsoccer.com.[1] He was also the color commentator for KDOC-TV and their Chivas USA broadcasts. He also is the Head Boys' Soccer Coach at Windward School in Los Angeles, California. In May 2012 he became the Director of Content and Development for football.com. Webster now runs his own consulting business advising coaches, players and talent in the TV industry as well as developing his own unique blog realfootytalk.com. He currently has a video series featuring different aspects of soccer on the livestrong network.
Broadcasting
Webster began his broadcast career with Fox Soccer Channel (then Fox Sports World) in May 2000. His first assignment of note was writing the copy for Lionel Bienvenu and the highly popular Premier League Review Show.[2] By 2004, Webster was the voice of the English Premier League as he provided the majority of the wraparounds for the world's most popular league.
In addition to calling matches from the Premier League, Webster also commentated on the Italian Serie A, Spain's La Liga, the German Bundesliga, France's Ligue 1, the Dutch Eredivisie, Chile's Primera Division, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, and Argentina's Apertura. Additionally, he has called matches from the UEFA Cup including the finals in 2004, 2005 and 2006, the UEFA Super Cup, World Cup Qualifying, and the Toulon Tournament.
Webster has also covered in person the following tournaments: FIFA World Cup 2002, 2006 and 2010; where he has given video summaries of the matches from South Africa; UEFA European Championship 2004 and 2008; FIFA Confederations Cup 2003; ICC 2003 Cricket World Cup; and CONCACAF Gold Cup 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, providing daily articles and news stories for foxsoccer.com and foxsports.com.[3]
Webster is also the host of Fox Football Fone-In, a call-in show for soccer fans.[4]
Webster was the director and senior producer for the following shows at Fox Soccer. Uefa Champions League Pre & Post games, Super Sunday+, Match Day, Passport to Germany & South Africa, Fox Football Fone-In. He has also won multiple Telly Awards.
In 2014 Webster was named the color commentator for Chivas USA broadcasts on KDOC LA 56. Later that summer he became the host for the World Soccer Talk Premier League podcast.
Coaching
Webster grew up in São Paulo, Brazil and North London, England, attending some of the biggest club soccer matches in the world. In 1987 Webster immigrated to the United States and shortly thereafter began his soccer-coaching career at Occidental College, Los Angeles as the men's assistant to Lowell Thomas. In his one season with the Tigers, Webster helped the team to 2nd place in The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
In 1997 he moved to Windward High School, Los Angeles to become the Head Coach of Boys' Varsity team. In his first season, the Wildcats won the first of eight League Championships. In 2004 as an unseeded school, the Wildcats won their first ever boys' CIF Southern Section title defeating Carpentaria High School 2-1. Webster was named CIF Southern Section Division VI Coach of the Year.[2]
In May 2012, Webster was appointed 1st team coach for Cal FC under the management of Eric Wynalda. The team from Thousand Oaks embarked on an historic run in the US Open Cup, beating the Kitsap Pumas, the Wilmington Hammerheads and the Portland Timbers, the first time an amateur team had ever beaten an MLS team in the US Open Cup. The run was finally ended by the three-time defending champions, Seattle Sounders.
In the 2014 edition of the US Open Cup, Webster has taken on the head coaching role and will lead the team as they play the LA Galaxy II (PDL Pro) in the 2nd round of the tournament. He also assisted Eric Wynalda and the Atlanta Silverbacks in their 5th round tie against the Colorado Rapids. A match that saw 5 red cards for the Silverbacks including that of Wynalda and his first assistant leaving Webster with 8 players. Incredibly the Silverbacks held on to win the game 2-1.
On March 1, 2015, Webster won the United States Youth Soccer Association National Championships with CalSouth Boys' U17 beating Iowa in the final.
Webster is a licensed coach with the United States Soccer Federation and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America holding his A, B, C & D licenses along with the highly respected Premier Diploma and the much sought Director of Coaching Diploma. In June 2016 Webster will embark on his Master Coach certification.