FC Buffalo will have a new women’s coach for the first time since its inception, as head coach Nikki Bartholomew stepped down for the position last week. She will continue in her role as technical director of the FC Buffalo Youth Academy and coach of two girls teams, and the club will announce new leadership later Wednesday as we prepare to enter the USL W League this summer.
When our club was approached about entering a United Women’s Soccer team in their 2021 season, our women’s soccer advisory board was confronted by some major questions both competitive but also spiritual as we tried to find a coach.
In Nikki, we found a steadfast believer in the game who had thrived as a player and coach in Western New York soccer. A loyal and principled team member, Nikki gave the women’s team stability from Moment No. 1 and provided a home for players that would not only win games — of which they did plenty — but also hearts as her FC Buffalo strived to be put the tremendous talent of our area on a stage as not just players but role models in the game.
Moreover, Nikki held herself and the club to high standards of loyalty, friendship, and virtue. She tried to draw the best out of others while meeting her own lofty expectations. Nikki approached the club about forming a youth academy in 2022, and her guiding light was that the project would strengthen FC Buffalo and, more importantly, the area. We entered uncharted waters with the belief that she was the right person to lead in title as our technical director and in practice as a moral compass for the project.
Nikki has given so much to our club along with her husband Ryan, an invested, fun, and energetic man and world-class photographer who was often seen around games with his camera along with the pair’s often-smiling daughters. Her impact on our club has been immense — Nikki helped guide the club and our players to honors with a 28-4-4 career regular season record and four-consecutive playoff berths. The women’s program would not be where it is without her and a long line of inspired assistants including 2024 staff Gabrielle Wilson, Angela Nicholas-Tolsma, and Trevor Lawler. We will strive to grow what she’s helped us build in four memorable, win-stacking years. And we look forward to seeing her continued impact on the youth soccer landscape.
