Nicolas "Nico" Colaluca (born May 23, 1986) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Youth and college

Born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, he attended

La Salle Academy } La Salle Academy is an American private, Catholic all-boys' high school in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. The school is run by the Eastern North American District of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. ...

in Providence. Colaluca played college soccer at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, and in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

with the

Rhode Island Stingrays Rhode Island Stingrays was an American soccer team based in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1995, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009, after ...

. In 2004, he was awarded NSCAA High School Player of The Year and also participated in the High School McDonald's All-American game that year. While at Virginia, he was named to the 2004 Freshman All-American Team, the 2004 ACC All-Tournament Team, and the 2004 ACC All-Freshman Team.

Professional

Colaluca was drafted in the first round (6th overall) of the

2007 MLS SuperDraft The 2007 MLS SuperDraft was held in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 12, 2007. It was the eighth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection belonged to expansion team Toronto FC. The SuperDraft was followed by the 2007 MLS Supp ...

by the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

, and subsequently made 4 MLS appearances during his two seasons with the team. He was traded to

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

in exchange for

Rob Valentino Rob Valentino (born December 21, 1985) is a former American association football, soccer player who is an assistant coach at Major League Soccer side Atlanta United FC. Career College and Amateur Valentino grew up in Danville, California, an ...

on May 6, 2009. During 2009 Colaluca also spent time on loan with

Western Mass Pioneers Western Mass Pioneers is an American soccer team based in Ludlow, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at Lusitano Stadium, ...

in the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ( ...

. It was announced on November 18, 2010 that Colaluca would graduate from the MLS

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S. ...

program at the end of the 2010 season. On August 3, 2011, he signed with the

Atlanta Silverbacks 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 game ...

of the NASL.

International

Colaluca played with the youth teams of the United States, including the under-20 level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colaluca, Nico 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Providence, Rhode Island American men's soccer players Colorado Rapids players Rhode Island Stingrays players New England Revolution players Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer players Western Mass Pioneers players Atlanta Silverbacks FC players La Salle Academy alumni USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Second Division players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Colorado Rapids draft picks Soccer players from Rhode Island Men's association football midfielders