Coach Nic Nazon continues to foster development in SCU players
Twenty-six-year-old Nic Nazon, a former standout player, now helps promote the game in a different capacity, as he serves as coach of SCUs U-11 2012 Boys Pre-ECNL team.
For Nazon, his current position is one he’s attained as he’s accrued experience, having initially started out coaching at the GFC Division 1 and 2 levels.
“I had the opportunity to begin coaching at Space Coast roughly six, seven years ago and that’s when (Space Coast United executive director of coaching) Scotty (Armstrong) began to mentor me and worked me through the ranks in regards to showing me all the ways to be successful really,” Nazon said.
Nazon praised Space Coast United’s culture as he discussed what he most enjoyed about coaching with the club.
“Just overall, the atmosphere, it’s a massive family,” Nazon said. “I think the best part of it is, which I’ve had the pleasure of doing over the last few years is I’ve had a lot of big brother/little brother scenarios and what I mean by that is I’ve coached many kids and then had the opportunity to coach their younger siblings as well and it’s one of those situations where it’s like ‘I’m going to be on Coach Nic’s team this year’ and then two, three, four years later the little brothers are more or less saying the same thing and then after they leave, their older siblings are still around the club and you can kind of see them progress as well and grow.”
That atmosphere that Nazon referred to also allows him to get to know the players he inherits as they progress up to his club from lower levels.
“I get along with all the coaches really well,” Nazon said. “I have a lot of conversations with the Vladis (Campo), the Hughs (Cousins) and people at that kind of All-Star level.”
Nazon also indicated that “the same thing happens at a higher level for me” with coaches such as Haris Memisevic at his training sessions and getting to know players that will eventually move up to his U13 and U14 Boys ECNL teams, as an example.
As he’s progressed in his career, Nazon also has believed that, at just 26, he can relate to players well.
“Being a kid in this generation and being from America, I find myself in a situation where I can relate a lot more just from how the kids are dealing with school, how they’re doing with social aspects of their lives and what’s going on personally in the team and not in the team because that does play a huge role,” Nazon said.
As a full-time mortgage loan originator at Morgan Financial, Nic has earned trust of families in providing mortgage support whether that be refinancing or working with those moving into the area.
When he’s not coaching with SCU and not working at Morgan Financial during the day, Nazon runs a business called NextLevel where he works one-on-one with aspiring soccer players, gaining that much more experience as he does so.
“My best friend and I, Coach Vince Laleau, who’s another coach at the club, we had started a private training company basically maybe 3-or-4 years ago,” Nazon said. “…. We wanted to create a culture where kids were taking pride in training alone and outside of practice.”
The future is bright for Nazon, who recently became a father. He hopes to continue coaching as his parental journey continues. He added that he would like to be able to sponsor players through his day job to “essentially create more opportunities for kids that want to play that maybe don’t have the same finances that others do.”
Space Coast United executive director Scotty Armstrong offer praise for Nic as well.
“I have had the pleasure of seeing Nick grow from being a local club soccer player to become a coach. Watching Nick develop and grow as a person is fantastic. He has built up next-level soccer training and is consistently improving as a coach,” Armstrong said. “Over the years, every team Nick coaches improves. He has always given feedback and insight into improving the curriculum. I am really proud of Nick, watching Nick grow as a young man, a husband, becoming a fantastic father as well as helping to grow his business as a mortgage broker. That shows how hard he works and SCU is lucky to have him.”