Niko Saler (born April 15, 1992) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player.

Career

Youth and amateur

Saler, who did not play traditional

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

, first achieved success at the U-15 level when he won the Rocky Mountain Cup with Team Alberta in 2007. He subsequently won a bronze medal at the BMO Canadian U-16 National Championships, and a Silver at the U-18 Canada Games in 2009, as well as Provincial and National Championships at the club level with Calgary Foothills Crew. In September 2012 left FC Edmonton and joined the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. In November 2012 was named as the

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

Rookie of the Year by the

Alberta Golden Bears The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas are the sports teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alberta athletics teams have won a total of 101 national championships, including 84 in U Sports sanctioned sports, ma ...

Professional

Saler turned professional in 2010 when he signed with

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

side

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

. He played for Edmonton during its 2010 exhibition season, and continued on with the team in its first season in the NASL in 2011. He made his professional debut on May 4, 2011 in a

2011 Canadian Championship The 2011 Canadian Championship (officially the Nutrilite Canadian Championship) was a soccer tournament hosted and organized by the Canadian Soccer Association that took place in the cities of Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in 2011. A ...

game against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

, and made his first league appearance for Edmonton on May 31 in a 4-0 win over

FC Tampa Bay The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tier ...

. The club re-signed Saler for the 2012 season on October 12, 2011.

International

Saler was called up to his first Canadian national youth team camp in 2011, in preparation for an Olympic qualifier in Guatemala.Saler Called into Canadian U-20 Team
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References

External links

Edmonton profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saler, Niko 1992 births Living people Canadian men's soccer players FC Edmonton players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Soccer people from Alberta Sportspeople from Lethbridge Men's association football defenders Alberta Golden Bears players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen