Nick Webster

Last updated

Nick Webster
Nick-headshot.jpg
Occupation(s)TV Personality, Coach, Advisor

Nick Webster is the volunteer Chair/President for Cal South, a former soccer personality, and an acclaimed TV producer/director and leadership coach. He was formerly an on-air director, senior producer, play-by-play announcer, and chief writer for Fox Soccer Channel and foxsoccer.com. [1] He was also the chief analyst for KDOC-TV and their Chivas USA broadcasts and the play-by-play announcer for the Orange County Blues. 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 industry talent in the TV and soccer industry. He has a video series featuring different aspects of soccer on the livestrong network, and in 2016 published his first book, 'Re-Booting Youth Soccer 2.0' which has become required reading for new coaches and parents. His Facebook group, the Soccer Coaches Mastermind currently boasts over 4,500 coaches and is one of the most popular soccer coaching pages on the Facebook network. Webster holds a Bachelor of Science from CSUDH and a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership from Concordia University Irvine.

Contents

Broadcasting & Media

Webster began his broadcast career with Fox Soccer Channel (then Fox Sports World). 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, 2008 and 2024; FIFA Confederations Cup 2003; ICC 2003 Cricket World Cup; and CONCACAF Gold Cup 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2023 providing daily articles and news stories for foxsoccer.com and foxsports.com. [3] He also provides match reports for insideworldfootball.com

Webster was also the host and producer 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-game, Half-time & Post-game, UEFA Champions League Final broadcast on Fox in 2011, Super Sunday+, Match Day, Fox Football Fone-In, Passport to Germany & South Africa. He has also won multiple Telly Awards for producing, directing, and hosting.

During the summer of 2007, Webster was the lead announcer for Bluff Poker as they held the online rights for the World Series of Poker. Webster produced twice-daily reports of the action as well as breaking down the big hands of the day. Webster is an accomplished Texas Hold 'Em player and has won the daily 'poker and ponies' tournament at Hollywood Park Casino on multiple occasions.

In 2014 Webster was named the color commentator for Chivas USA broadcasts on KDOC-TV. Later that summer he became the host for the World Soccer Talk Premier League podcast. During the summer of 2016, he also performed as the play-by-play announcer for the Orange County Blues.

During World Cup 2018, Webster provided daily expert analysis for 5thstreetsports.com. In August 2018 Webster partnered up with Nick Geber to provide daily analysis of the English Premier League on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, Sports Byline USA, American Forces Network, SB Nation Radio and IHeartRadio, making it the most widely distributed soccer radio show in the US.

In 2023, Webster developed the Bear & the Ball podcast. This weekly show discusses all forms of the beautiful game and can be found on the Cal South web page and apple podcasts. In the summer of 2024 Webster is reporting for insideworldfootball.com at Euro 2024 producing match reports, opinion pieces and a daily podcast InsideEuro2024.

Coaching

Webster is a licensed coach with the United States Soccer Federation and the United Soccer Coaches holding his A, B, C & D licenses along with the highly respected Premier Diploma and the much sought Director of Coaching Diploma. In January 2017, Webster successfully completed his United Soccer Coaches Master Coach and Soccer Leader diploma, graduating with a distinguished pass. He also holds the Advanced National Goalkeeping Diploma.

Webster grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, and North London, England, attending some of the biggest club soccer matches in the world. Webster 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.

He then 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. 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 a 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 FC.

In the 2014 edition of the US Open Cup, Webster reprised his head coaching role and led the team against the LA Galaxy II (USL) 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. Webster designed a tactical plan with his remaining players and the Silverbacks ran out 2-1 winners for one of the most dramatic wins in the competition's long and storied history.

On March 1, 2015, Webster won the United States Youth Soccer Association National Championships with CalSouth Boys' U17 beating Iowa in the final.

In the fall of 2017 Webster was the volunteer men's assistant coach for Cal State Dominguez Hills as they won the CCAA Championship.

Webster has coached numerous club teams in the Southern California region winning multiple league and tournament titles.

In late 2018 Webster again teamed up with Eric Wynalda at the Las Vegas Lights FC in the United Soccer League working with the first team in how to win the mental game.

In the spring of 2020, Webster began coaching at UCSB and assisting with the women's Division 1 program under Head Coach, Paul Stumpf and assisted with the Gaachos for two seasons. In 2023 he took over the boys' soccer program at Venice High School leading them to the Los Angeles City Finals in his first season.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Harkes</span> American soccer player and coach

John Andrew Harkes is an American soccer coach and former professional player who last coached Greenville Triumph SC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Wynalda</span> American soccer player

Eric Boswell Wynalda is an American soccer coach, television commentator, and former player. He was formerly an analyst and color commentator for soccer coverage on Fox Sports 1 and ESPN. Previously, he served as head coach and technical director of Las Vegas Lights FC in the USL Championship and he was previously the host of WTF: Wynalda Talks Football on SiriusXM FC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlanta Silverbacks FC</span> Soccer club

The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home games at Atlanta Silverbacks Park, a large soccer complex featuring a 5,000-seat soccer-specific stadium in Atlanta, 15 miles northeast of downtown. The team's colors were red, black, grey, and white.

Mark Stephen Sampson is an American soccer coach. He is also the former head coach of both the United States men's national team and the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

Derek Rae is a Scottish association football commentator and presenter who currently works for ESPN and ABC in the United States for the English-language coverages of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and La Liga and Deutsche Fußball Liga for the English-language world feed as well as the Premier League coverage on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. He has provided the English commentary for the FIFA/EA FC video game series alongside former Arsenal players Lee Dixon in 2020 and Stewart Robson since 2021. He is also an ambassador for Berwick Rangers.

<i>Fox Football Fone-in</i> American TV series or program

Fox Football Fone-in was a football (soccer) telephone call-in program that was shown on Monday evenings on Fox Soccer Channel during the August to May Premier League season. However, as of August 2010, the show was cancelled. The show was hosted by Nick Webster and Eric Wynalda, and Temryss Lane reads off the e-mails. Wynalda was an incoming replacement for Steven Cohen, one of the original hosts. The show was geared towards an American audience, and focused primarily on the Premier League, although Major League Soccer, the English and U.S. national teams, as well as other club and country competitions were frequently covered such as the UEFA Champions League, European Championship and World Cup finals and qualifiers.

ESPN is the Brazilian division of ESPN Inc. Launched in March 1989 as Canal+, it was the first country-specific version of ESPN outside the United States, launched in June 1995. The channel has covered major sporting events, like the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics; the 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Pan-American Games. High ratings and prestige in the segment have been marks of the channel; it also won the APCA award twice, in 1995 for "Best Sports Programming" and in 1998 for "Best Coverage of the 1998 FIFA World Cup".

Keith Costigan is a former professional soccer player who now works as a television analyst and commentator for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

John Strong is an American television play-by-play broadcaster who is the lead play-by-play voice for MLS on Fox. His work has appeared on NBC, Fox, ESPN among other networks. He is a former radio host on 750-AM "The Game" in Portland, Oregon and was the radio and television play-by-play announcer for the Portland Timbers Major League Soccer team.

Derby Rafael Carrillo Berduo is a Salvadoran professional goalkeeper who plays for Cobán Imperial in Guatemala.

The 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final was played on August 8, 2012 at Livestrong Sporting Park, now known as Children's Mercy Park, in Kansas City, Kansas. The match was the culmination of the 2012 U.S. Open Cup, a tournament open to amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation. This was the 99th edition of the oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. Sporting Kansas City won their second U.S. Open Cup title, their first since 2004, by defeating Seattle Sounders FC, 3–2 in a penalty shootout following a 1–1 draw through extra time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Barrera</span> Colombian-American soccer player (born 1990)

Daniel Francisco Barrera is a professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship. Born in Colombia, he has represented the United States at youth level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cal FC</span> Soccer club from California

Cal Football Club is an American soccer club based in Thousand Oaks, California. The club was founded in 2006 and competes in the UPSL Premier Division, a fifth-tier United States Adult Soccer Association and Cal South affiliated league in Southern California. The team is coached by Michael Friedman who is also Cal FC's General Manager.

Alberto "Beto" Navarro is an American soccer player. He currently serves on the coaching staff for California United Strikers FC in the National Independent Soccer Association.

The 2013 season was the Atlanta Silverbacks's seventeenth season of existence, and their third consecutive season playing in the North American Soccer League, the second division of the American soccer pyramid.

The 2014 season was the Atlanta Silverbacks' 18th season of existence, and their 4th consecutive season playing in the North American Soccer League, the second division of the American soccer pyramid.

Kwadwo Poku is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

The 2018 United States Soccer Federation presidential election was held in February 2018 to determine the next President of the United States Soccer Federation. Having served as President since 2006, incumbent Sunil Gulati decided not to run for re-election, after the United States men's national soccer team failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1986.

Fox currently airs soccer matches in the United States. These matches are from the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Women's World Cup, the UEFA European Championship, the Gold Cup, Copa América, MLS, and Liga MX. Fox formerly aired the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, the Premier League, the Bundesliga, the Serie A, and the FA Cup.

The UEFA Champions League is an annual club soccer competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competition winners. The competition attracts an extensive television audience, not just in Europe, but throughout the world. The final of the tournament has been, in recent years, the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. The final of the 2012–13 tournament had the competition's highest TV ratings to date, drawing approximately 360 million television viewers.

References

  1. ↑ Nick Webster on FoxSoccer.com
  2. 1 2 "FOX Sports on MSN - FSC TV - Nick Webster". msn.foxsports.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Make hay while the sun shines - Premier League News - FOX Sports on MSN". msn.foxsports.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2009.
  4. ↑ http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/soccer/archives/2009/07/fsc_replaces_st.html [ dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.