- April 24, 2024
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Seabreeze defender Nickole Dane (left) and midfielder Kylie Watson battle to keep Spruce Creek away from the goal. Photo by Michele Meyers
"Doing what is needed for others to succeed while doing it for personal growth despite academic challenges, injury and outside forces is rare, but that’s Nickole Dane," coach Brad Montgomery said. Photo by Michele Meyers
"She's up for any task and she always comes out ahead. Good luck to anyone trying to keep up with her," Seabreeze teacher Todd Huckaby said of Nickole Dane. Photo by Michele Meyers
"She's the kind of person that you can ask to help. She never, ever says no. With a lovely smile on her face, she says yes and goes for it," club coach Alex Perez said of Nickole Dane. Photo by Michele Meyers
"She is so good at putting the last play behind her, good or bad, and focusing on the next play and how she can do it better," Seabreeze soccer coach Eli Freidus said of Nickole Dane. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Seabreeze soccer team lines up to salute the flag before game time. Nickole Dane (13, third from left). Photo by Michele Meyers
Coach Eli Freidus (left), the Seabreeze 2022 district soccer championship team and assistant coach Christine Goebel (second from right). Photo by Michele Meyers
Morgan Long and Nickole Dane. Photo by Michele Meyers
Nickole Dane runs on field as the starters are announced before the game against Spruce Creek. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze soccer players Avery Dellinger, Morgan Long and Nickole Dane. Photo by Michele Meyers
Nickole Dane with a header against Spruce Creek. Photo by Michele Meyers
Nickole Dane takes the corner kick against Spruce Creek. Photo by Michele Meyers
Assistant soccer coach George Bellingham presents Nickole Dane with a framed photo of her sister, Ericka Dane, at her soccer tribute game. Photo by Michele Meyers
Penny Dane talks to the girls at the tribute soccer game for her daughter, Ericka Dane. Photo by Michele Meyers
Nickole Dane's competitive soccer coach, Alex Perez. Photo by Michele Meyers
"I know that our young runners Ari and Kenzie Roy (above) look up to her as a big sister, both in cross country and soccer," Seabreeze girls soccer coach Eli Freidus said of Nickole Dane. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze athletic director and girls cross country coach Brad Montgomery. Photo by Michele Meyers
Cross country runners Nickole Dane and Dominic Marinaccio receive Supercrab Athlete of the 1st Quarter awards. Seabreeze athletic director Brad Montgomery (center). Courtesy photo
Nickole Dane runs the third leg of the 4x800 relay with Ari Roy, McKenzie Roy and Ella Chandler. The teammates placed third at the Class 3A state meet and broke the Seabreeze High School record. Courtesy photo
Seabreeze boys and girls cross country teams. Courtesy photo
“Cigarette Daydreams” by Cage the Elephant, is Nickole Dane’s go-to pre-game song.
“Maybe it’s not as uplifting as it should be but it still puts me in the right mindset to play,” she said.
Dane is a senior at Seabreeze High School in the midst of a highly competitive varsity soccer season. The Sandcrabs have three more regular season games before they head to districts in February.
In the 2021-22 season, she played right back when they were district champions. Avery Dellinger, Seabreeze goalie and Dane’s best friend, attributed the team's success to the chemistry between the back line players and a connection that has developed between the friends.
“Sometimes I don’t even have to tell Nickole certain things on the field because we have a knowingness about each other,” she said. “We know who’s going to step to the ball. I feel like that is a really big dynamic in the soccer world.”
Dane was influenced by her older sister, Ericka Dane, to start playing recreational soccer at age 4 and competitive soccer at 11 or 12. Even though she tried softball for two weeks and enjoyed swimming and gymnastics, she always returned to soccer.
About four years ago, Alex Perez started working with Dane as her competitive soccer coach. Her attitude and determination pushed players and coaches forward even in the toughest of situations.
“Seeing her at training sessions and games with a smile on her face every single time is an example of how strong she is,” he said. “She always gives everything she has without excuses and with tremendous heart. We all love her. I’m glad that I have her and her family as part of our Waves soccer team family.”
Both of Dane’s parents were involved in sports in high school. Dad Tom Dane was a wrestler and weightlifter and mom Penny Dane played softball and was a cheerleader. They encouraged her to participate in sports.
Dane not only excels at soccer. She is a three-sport athlete at Seabreeze. She has been running cross country since her freshman year and qualified 13th at regionals to go to the state meet. On track, she was the third leg of the 4x800 relay team with Ari Roy, McKenzie Roy and Ella Chandler that placed third at the Class 3A state championships and broke the school record with a 9:24.85.
“Nickole Dane is the reason that we coach and a major reason that I personally continue to coach. Selfless instead of selfish in a time we need to value others the most. Over thirty years of coaching, predominantly in female sports in high school, I cannot name one athlete that I hold in a higher regard than Nickole.”
BRAD MONTGOMERY, Seabreeze athletic director and girls cross country coach
Brad Montgomery, Seabreeze's athletic director and cross country coach, met with the team in the summer for conditioning. One of his first statements to the group was, “We are going to state and this is how we are going to do it.” From that moment on, Dane’s leadership qualities kicked in and she became instrumental in holding everyone accountable while encouraging the group to do their best, he said.
“Nickole Dane is the reason that we coach and a major reason that I personally continue to coach,” Montgomery said. “Over 30 years of coaching, predominantly in female sports in high school, I cannot name one athlete that I hold in a higher regard than Nickole.”
For Seabreeze teacher Todd Huckaby, out of all of Dane’s accomplishments as a runner, the relay was his favorite.
“She has been a force to be reckoned with since her freshman cross country season,” he said. “That hard work and grit we know from running is paralleled in her academic work. She is an inquisitive student with a passion for learning and a top-notch calculus student. She is a self-starting, independent learner who I truly enjoyed teaching.”
Out of approximately 400 students, Dane is ranked fourth in her class academically. She is currently in teacher Eli Freidus’ college level AICE chemistry class which is often thought of as the most difficult class in the school. In an environment where some of the highest achieving students are in attendance, Dane consistently scores the best grades on tests, said Freidus, who is also her high school soccer coach.
“She is probably the most coachable player I have ever coached due to intellectual capability and, more importantly, her positive attitude toward improvement,” he said. “For a kid to go through what she has gone through and not only get through it and survive, but turn it into personal motivation to be a better person and a leader to others is beyond special. It’s not something I’ve seen in the high school world or the adult world.”
After Dane's sister died in 2021, Dane went to therapy and liked the way her therapist interacted with her. Now her goal is to go to Florida State University or the University of Florida to study psychology then become a psychiatrist. So far, she has received acceptance letters from the University of South Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University and FSU.
“I’ve always been interested in how the brain works and then I recently went to therapy after my sister passed,” she said. “I want to help people the way that she helped me. I also think it was sports and the support of my family and friends that helped me get through it.”
Dellinger believes the morale on their team stays high because of her friend.
“I think the reason the morale on our team is so high is because she is like a ray of sunshine in everyone’s lives,” Dellinger said. “She’s probably the nicest person I’ve ever met. She’s a great person to have by your side.”
Dane’s mother knows Ericka would be proud of her.
“She has persevered through the toughest of times — never quits or gives up,” Penny Dane said. “She has never seen herself as a leader, but she will take initiative in whatever task from academic to athletics. She’s just my world, and I’m blessed and honored to be in it with her.”
