Nikola “Niki” Budalic (born August 1, 1978) is a Canadian retired soccer player who currently serves as a director of soccer operations for Inter Miami CF.

Club career

Budalic began his soccer career at the college level with the James Madison University. In 2001, he was selected by the Toronto Lynx in the first round of the USL A-League 2001 College Draft, but decided to continue his education back home at Wilfrid Laurier University where he led the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks to the CIS championship. After the college season came to a conclusion he played with the

Glen Shields Sun Devils The Glen Shields Sun Devils were a soccer team which played in the Canadian Professional Soccer League from 1998–2002. They played their home matches in Thornhill, Ontario. The franchise was one of the original teams of the CPSL. Originally f ...

in the Canadian Professional Soccer League. In 2003, he signed a contract with the Toronto Lynx. He made his debut on April 20, 2002 against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. He recorded his first goal on April 26, 2002 against

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

in a 1-1 draw. In his rookie season he nearly helped the Lynx qualify for the postseason, but a tie in the final game of season against

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 ...

made the Charlotte Eagles take the final playoff spot. He finished the season with twelve goals and was named Team of the Week three times. The club also recognized him with their Best Offensive Player award, and was also named the A-League Rookie of the Year. Just weeks before the start of the 2003 season the Lynx announced Budalic had been transferred to Örebro SK in the Swedish First Division, where he was re-united with former Lynx player

Chris Pozniak Krzysztof "Chris" Pozniak (born 10 January 1981) is a Canadian retired soccer player. Club career Pozniak emigrated from Poland with his parents Tadeusz and Elżbieta, and sister Kinga, to Canada in 1990. He is able to speak Polish. He began h ...

. He was also named to the

Canada national soccer team Canada national soccer team may refer to: * Canada men's national soccer team ** Canada men's national under-23 soccer team, Canada's Olympic men's soccer team ** Canada men's national under-20 soccer team ** Canada men's national under-17 soccer te ...

roster for a friendly against Germany, but did not feature in the match. In 2004, he returned to Canada to sign with Montreal Impact. During his tenure with Montreal he had difficulty getting sufficient playing time with the competition of well-established strikers. He was later transferred to F.K. Haugesund where he helped the club win promotion to the Adeccoligaen in 2005. In 2006, he was released by Haugesund, which marked his return to Canada to sign with the

Serbian White Eagles Serbian White Eagles Football Club ( sr, Фудбалски клуб Српски бели орлови / ''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, an unsanctioned socce ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

. In his debut season he assisted the club in clinching the International Division title. He featured in the CSL Championship match against

Italia Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue and white, mirroring t ...

, but lost the game to a score of 1-0. He featured in the championship match against rivals Toronto Croatia, but suffered a 4-1 defeat on goals on aggregate. On September 17, 2007, Budalic played a game for the Toronto FC reserve team against the Real Salt Lake reserve team, and scored a goal in the 22nd minute. In 2008, he was named team captain of the

for the 2008 season. He helped secure a postseason by finishing second in their division. In the playoffs, he recorded a goal in a 3-0 victory against Italia. For the third straight year he reached the championship final against the

Trois-Rivières Attak Trois-Rivières Attak was a Canadian soccer team that played three seasons in the Canadian Soccer League. They formally served as a reserve and academy team for the USL First Division side Montreal Impact. The club was an instant success withi ...

, where Serbia claimed their first championship in a 2-1 victory in a penalty shootout. In 2009, he assisted Serbia in securing their third division title and reached the championship final for the fourth time, but were defeated by the Attak in a penalty shootout. The following year he retired from competitive soccer in order to coach the White Eagles. He briefly returned to soccer in 2013 to play with

K-W United FC The Kennedy K-W is an American high-wing, strut-braced, single-seat glider that was designed by Harold Kennedy of Dodge City, Kansas, with assistance from Floyd Watson. The aircraft is notable for being assembled from certified powered aircra ...

in the USL Premier Development League.

Managerial career

After his retirement from soccer he was appointed the head coach for the Serbian White Eagles. Budalic served as director of soccer operations for K-W United, leading the team to the

PDL PDL is an initialism for: Politics *Democratic Liberal Party (Romania), Democratic Liberal Party (''Partidul Democrat Liberal''), a former political party in Romania *Labour Democratic Party (''Partito Democratico del Lavoro''), a former politi ...

championship in 2015. He was also an assistant coach for the women's and men's soccer teams at Wilfrid Laurier University and director of football for Beswicks Sports North America before joining Orlando City on 26 January 2016, as an assistant general manager, where he had to report directly to founder and president Phil Rawlins. On 14 December 2016, he was promoted to general manager, soccer operations at Orlando City, Orlando Pride and Orlando City B. He left the club in late November 2018. Budalić then joined

Inter Miami Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2 ...

as a director of soccer operations on 8 January 2019.Canadian Niki Budalic joins David Beckham's Inter Miami as director of soccer operations
cbc.ca, 8 January 2019

Honours

Player

;Serbian White Eagles * CSL Championship:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

International Division:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Budalic, Niki 1978 births Living people Canadian people of Serbian descent Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Canadian men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden FK Haugesund players James Madison Dukes men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Örebro SK players USL League Two players Soccer people from Ontario Sportspeople from Kitchener, Ontario Serbian White Eagles FC players Serbian White Eagles FC coaches Toronto Lynx players A-League (1995–2004) players Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's soccer players K–W United FC players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) coaches Allsvenskan players York Region Shooters players Canadian soccer coaches