Hall of Fame
Nicholas Addlery played a significant role in Cal U’s emergence as one of the premier men’s soccer programs in the last decade.
The talented striker played for the Vulcans and Mid-Mon Valley Hall of Fame head coach Dennis Laskey from 1999 through 2002.
Addlery helped the Vulcans achieve three consecutive winning seasons with two PSAC regular season championships and two PSAC title game appearances. The 2000 Vulcans won a single-season school record 14 games, and Cal compiled an 11-3-2 PSAC mark in 2000 and 2001 with the team’s first-ever state championship game showings.
The 37 victories the Vulcans achieved from 1999 to 2001 comprise the team’s highest three-year cumulative total.
Addlery, who played three seasons with 2007 Cal U Hall of Fame inductee Tomas Boltnar, made an indelible mark in the school record book. In just 75 games he scored 52 goals with 20 assists, for 124 total points. His career goals and points remain second highest in school history behind Boltnar.
Addlery’s 16 goals and 36 points in 2001 still rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in single-season scores, and his 20 assists are still fifth best in school history.
“He was a great player, definitely,” said Laskey. “Nick just worked hard on his game and developed a good feel for playing with Boltnar. Their combination was excellent. He just knew that if he would pattern his movement off the ball that Boltnar could deliver it. They both just complemented each other very well.”
His 1999 freshman season ended with 12 wins – Cal’s highest number of victories in seven years – and 33 individual points. As a result, Addlery became the first Vulcan to receive PSAC Rookie of the Year honors. He earned first-team, all-conference honors in four consecutive seasons and was a two-time NSCAA/UMBRO All-Northeast Region selection and a one-time national All-American. Interestingly, Laskey believed Addlery could have even produced greater numbers during his freshman season.
“As good as he was Nick wasn’t at as flexible in his game during his freshman year,” Laskey said. “The style of play here is different than what he was used to and he was kind of set in how he wanted to play. But you have to credit him for the effort he made to improve his game.”
Before going on to a distinguished professional playing career, Addlery received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cal U in spring 2003. He is proud to have earned his degree and be joining the Hall of Fame.
“I can’t play soccer forever and academics should be the reason someone goes to school,” Addlery said. “I enjoyed playing soccer at California and for Dennis. He helped make going to school there a good experience.”
A native of Kingston, Jamaica, Addlery has played professionally in the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and North America. This fall, he is the leading scorer for the playoff-bound Vancouver Whitecaps, which plays in the First Division of the U.S. Soccer League.
In 2007 Addlery played for perennial power DC United of Major League Soccer. He earned the league’s Player of the Week award after scoring the game-winning goal in a 4-1 victory over Colorado.
From January to March 2006, Addlery had a brief stint in the Vietnamese First Division with Dong Nai Football Club.
He began his professional career as the first Jamaican player in the history of the Trinidad & Tobago Pro League. Addlery played with the South Starworld Strikers between September and December 2003, and in 2005 the striker made a further 25 appearances in the T&T Pro League for San Juan Jabloteh.
He has certainly gone and traveled a long way from his collegiate days at a Division II school in southwestern Pennsylvania.
“It depends on how much you want it,” said Addlery. “You have to make a lot of sacrifices. It is easier to fly under the radar when you are playing at a Division II school but if you are doing your thing and doing your work, you will get the opportunity.”
Laskey believes Addlery’s own individual effort has played a big part in his professional success.
“There’s very few at our level that make it there and there’s no rhyme or reason to it because all the players train the same, some just put a little more into it and players develop differently,” Laskey said. “It comes down to experience, understanding and reading the game and meeting the sport’s physical and technical demands. Nick’s done this and put in the extra time and commitment on his own.”
As a young man, Addlery played for the Jamaican youth club Cooreville Gardens and attended the Alvernia Preparatory School and Jamaica College, an all-boys high school. He represented Jamaica at both the under-20 and under-23 Olympic levels.
Addlery played in the 2004 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico, where Jamaica was unable to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics. He was part of the Jamaican squad that qualified for the 2001 under-20 World Cup finals in Argentina and finished second at the 2001 CONCACAF qualifying tournament.
According to Laskey, Addlery, as Boltnar, has left a lasting legacy for current and future Cal U players to emulate.
“They’ve set a high standard,” Laskey said about Addlery and Boltnar. “We still have a very good team and they helped our continued success. Our current kids follow them in the pros and want to know how they got there so there’s no question that is all positive. We still train the same way we did back then but those guys like Addlery and Boltnar separated themselves through hard work and going the extra mile. The soccer players that have been inducted into our hall of fame are quality people and Nick certainly adds to this list.”
Now a resident of Canada, Nicholas lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
