Nick Churchill
Nick Churchill was perhaps one of Ziotah's greatest football players of all time. He was an energetic left fielder who broke several records in his college, pro and international career. Even as a freshman in Riverside University, he was labeled a potential soccer great by many analysts. Standing at 6'5, he had a great shooting ability along with excellent dribbling and passing. His only real weakness was acrobatic kicking, but he made up for that with his keen accuracy.
As a High School student, he dominated his city league, leading his high school, Delron, to three straight provincial titles in Ziotah's Northeastern Province. He was already swamped with college offers by his junior year. He chose to attend Riverside, which is one of Ziotah's most dominant Soccer Schools; it won 14 straight ZCAA National Championships under legendary coach Adam Kerr. Churchill won a championship all four of his years, adding to the previous three won earlier.
During the 1999 Championship game against Westwood, he broke the ZCAA's record for most goals scored in a single game, 6. The previous record had been 5, set by another all time great, Michael Smith.
Nick kicked off his international career in World Cup 2, where he was well on his way to setting one or two international records. His first was most assists. His most famous record, which possibly still stands today, is his all-time leading scorer record, which stands at 59 Goals in World Cup Qualifying and Tournament play.
Nick lead Ziotah to international glory in the second World Cup. Ziotah finished third in the tournament, winning the third-place game by a score of 4-0, three of those goals coming from Nick. Ziotah finished as the 2nd best team in the entire world, behind the eventual winner Al-Quds.
Ziotah saw more success at three more world cups, including World Cups Seven, Eight and Twelve. However, Nick Churchill and the Ziotah team would not see a better result then in the second World Cup.
After Ziotah's withdrawal from the International Soccer Federation due to various controversies, Nick participated in a short pro career with Ziotah's Riverside City Leviathans. Nick led them to their first two ZMLS Championships before retiring at the age of 39. During his pro career, Nick broke the Single-Game scoring record and assist record again, at three goals and two assists in one game.
Nick Churchill is now the assistant coach at Riverside University, where they are on track to glory once again after finishing in last year's ZCAA final four after a long period of absence. He is the early candidate to succeed Kerr's son, Robert, after his tenure.
