After 20 years with Tim King at the helm of the boys’ varsity soccer team, Nick Viola has been appointed the new head coach of the team. Athletic Director Tim Spear said, “Gorham Athletics is very excited to have Coach Viola joining our team. Coach Viola has a passion for coaching soccer and brings an enthusiastic and energetic attitude to the program. He is familiar with our program and understands the deep roots that soccer has in our community. I believe he is ready for the challenge in taking the helm of a top notch program.”
Viola grew up in Portland with his parents, sister and brother. He started playing soccer when he was five years old and credits his supportive family for helping to advance his playing career. “I grew up playing in premier tournaments around the country as a kid, and having that chance to develop as a player would not have been possible without my family. This also helped fuel a transition into coaching,” he said.
While attending Deering High School from 2005-2008, Viola played all four years on the varsity team and captained the Rams to a 13-3 record his senior year, losing to our own Gorham Rams in the SMAA South semifinals. Viola was selected first team all-conference and was the conference defensive player of the year as a senior. He went on to play four years of college soccer at Elmira College in upstate New York, where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in speech-language pathology.
Viola obtained his Master’s degree in speech-language pathology at the University of Maine in 2014. After playing soccer at the semi-professional level in Boston in 2015, he moved back to Portland. “I’ve coached the 2003 boys’ premier team at Rosevelt Soccer Club for the last three seasons, where we won two Maine State Premier League titles,” he shared.
It is a difficult time to be a coach, let alone a new varsity coach, with Covid-19 still looming. With the fall sports season still up in the air, Viola said, “The pandemic has had a profound and unprecedented impact on all of our lives. Details surrounding the prospect of a season are still being formulated. We will do our part as a team and as a coaching staff to ensure a safe, competitive playing environment for all student-athletes. We will make the best of all circumstances, however frequently they may change.”
Still hopeful for a fall season so he can get to know his players and coaching staff, Viola stated, “I hope to aspire to a standard of excellence, all the time. Not just on the field, but in the classroom and in representing our community.”
Viola works as a Speech-Language Pathologist at Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford. “I work in a rehabilitation setting, often with patients who have suffered strokes or brain injuries, who present with speech, language, cognitive, voice and swallowing disorders. I also work in pediatrics with developmental delays,” he added.
It’s a new era for Gorham boys’ varsity soccer and Coach Viola is ready to get started. “Soccer is a great game and I love to share my knowledge and give back to the community like so many youth coaches did for me,” he said.