Where Are They Now: Nick Melville
One of the popular colloquialisms associated with Maine is, “You can’t get theya from heah.” However, when it comes to the well-traveled career of former Nashville Football Club (NFC) player Nick Melville, nothing could be further from the truth.
Nick is one of six boys born into a loving family in the coastal town of Yarmouth, Maine, just north of Portland. Nick’s earliest memories involve him trying to keep up with his three older brothers playing various sports including hockey, baseball, and primarily soccer. (Yarmouth, it appears, is an island of soccer surrounded by a great sea of hockey.) This sibling rivalry proved to be an excellent training ground, as four of the boys went on to play soccer collegiately. (One even played for the Coast Guard Academy and later was an officer on a drug intervention cutter in Panama.) It is Nick, however, who has taken his soccer career the furthest.
After completing his high school years at Cherverus HS as a first team all-state selection, and finishing second in voting for the Maine Player of the Year, Nick had numerous universities calling for his services. However, it was the passion with which Iowa Western’s head coach spoke about winning a national title that resonated in Nick’s heart. As a result, the 18 year old young man left home – and fishing with his grandfather Tom – to take his talents 1500 miles west.
The decision proved to be fortuitous, as over the next two years Nick would start at midfield for a team that won a national title his first season and did not lose until it reached its second consecutive national championship match – a contest that was settled in penalties giving his teams at Iowa Western (IW) a cumulative record of 49 – 0 – 1.
While he was playing at IW, Nick would come home during the summers to fish with his granddad and play for the Portland Phoenix (PDL). Several of Nick’s teammates on The Phoenix were playing for University of Cincinnati, and they convinced their coach to scout Melville at the Junior College National Championships. The coach did not need a second look, and when Nick’s career at IW was over there was a scholarship waiting for him at Cincinnati.
After his first year at Cincinnati, one of his college coaches contacted Kyle Roelke about having Nick come and play for NFC. Kyle always had an excellent eye for talent and after a try-out Nick found himself once again changing geographies (if only for one summer). In Nashville, Nick joined his running mate Elias Tambourini at one of the apartments that NFC rented for players. Along with his other roommates (Jordan Wright, Guy Clement, and Kyle McLaughlin), they had a great time enjoying the “fruits” of Nashville while still being mindful to stay in shape for soccer.
Like many of the players we have spoken to, the first thing Nick remembers of his time with NFC is the supporters and the exciting environment they created each game day. He especially relished the matches against Chattanooga, where there was as much competition by the supporters in the stands as on the pitch.
Still, Nick’s time at NFC would last just one season. After graduation he decided to pursue playing professionally, and was invited by Cincinnati’s USL squad to try out. Things were looking good until a major turnover in the coaching ranks towards the end of preseason put a damper on his opportunity. Nick headed back to Maine where he played for the Seacoast United PDL team that made it to the Final Four PDL Championship Tournament in Georgia. The next year, Nick was invited back once again to try out for Cincinnati’s USL squad – but despite playing well through the preseason, it was not to be.
As the old saying goes, “when one door closes another one opens,” and it was at this time that Nick received the call that would change the direction of his career. A former coach who was now on the James Madison University (JMU) coaching staff called to see about Melville’s interest in taking a coaching position at JMU. That call would lead to another travel adventure, this time to the foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia. So, for the last two years Nick has been a recruiter and a coach of midfielders for one of the top Division 1 soccer programs in the country – a program that, in Nick’s first season, won the CAA regular season and tournament titles and made it to the quarterfinals of the 2018 NCAA Championships. The team ended the season ranked in the top ten in all the major national soccer polls.
Now with a second coaching season under his belt and one of his midfielders, Manuel Ferriol, selected with the 40th pick of the MLS Super Draft by the FC Dallas, Nick’s career path is looking bright. But even more importantly his personal life is trending upward as well. He and Victoria, his long-time girlfriend, are both settling down in the Harrisonburg area. The two have been together since their days at the University of Cincinnati, and have managed to make it work despite Nick’s well-traveled career – something Nick readily credits to her character and patience.
Thus, with all the cards lining up for a happy and successful life, you could say, to paraphrase an old song, “His future is so bright he has to wear sunglasses.” But there is also an important twist on an old Maine saying that all of us should pay heed to.
If you want it bad enough, “you can get theya from heah.”