Built from a lifelong love of the game.

Coach Toni Ninov is the founder of Phenom Elite Soccer Institute and a youth soccer professional with more than 17 years of coaching and club-management experience.

His passion for the game began on the streets of Bulgaria, where countless hours of playing, learning, and competing built a lasting respect for the work behind high achievement. That early obsession with the sport, paired with the discipline and attention to detail that would define his coaching career, became the foundation for his work in youth soccer.

Toni began coaching in Chicago, leading teams to local, regional, and national recognition through prestigious league and tournament wins. His teams played with a distinctive possession-and-attacking identity, while his player-development work helped young athletes go on to represent both Bulgaria and the United States at the youth national-team level. Many former players now compete in college soccer and have grown into responsible, high-character young men.

In 2020, Toni moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he served as Head Coach and Academy Director for Queen City Mutiny, an MLS NEXT club. Under his leadership, the club’s teams quickly rose among the top programs in the state.

He brings experience across the U.S. youth soccer landscape, including MLS NEXT, ECNL, NPL, and US Youth Soccer. Toni is a certified USSF coach and referee and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago.