The son of Jim and Linda Downing, Nick played soccer locally for Crossfire Sounders and Eastlake High School.
[1] As a teenager, Downing had stints training with German clubs Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart.
As a freshman, Downing played in 23 matches and was named to Soccer America's All-Freshman team.
Selected in the second round of the 2001 MLS SuperDraft, Downing made only five league appearances for New England Revolution.
[8] Downing joined New England Revolution in January 2012 as the club's first ever strength and conditioning coach.