Cougar Athletics
30 NAIA National Championships
95 GSAC Championships
...and counting

jsurrell@apu.edu

Five-time GSAC Coach of the Year Jason Surrell is now in his eighth year building the Azusa Pacific women’s soccer program into one of the NAIA’s most consistently successful programs this decade. In just 7 seasons at the helm, Surrell has taken the Cougars to 7 NAIA Tournaments, where they have made 6 quarterfinals appearance, 4 semifinals appearances and 2 national title game appearances.

In 2006, in just the third game of his seventh season as a head coach, Surrell became the second-fastest coach in NAIA history to post 100 career wins. Surrell hit the milestone mark in just his 127th game as a collegiate head coach. With a 7-year coaching mark of 118-17-12, his .844 career winning percentage makes Surrell the all-time winningest coach in NAIA history in terms of win percentage. In addition, he sits atop the Cougars’ career coaching list with more than twice as many victories as any other coach in Cougar women’s soccer history.

The early milestone foreshadowed the success that lay ahead for Azusa Pacific in what would turn about to be one of the finest seasons in Cougar history. After suffering a 1-0 road defeat to GSAC rival Westmont, Azusa Pacific put together a 14-game winning streak that netted the program’s fifth GSAC title in the past 7 years, its fourth NAIA Region II crown in the same time period and sent the Cougars into the national championship game for the third time in program history. During the streak, Azusa Pacific exacted revenge for its early-season defeat, posting a 5-1 win over Westmont in the Region II semifinals before ending the Warriors’ season for good with a 1-0 victory in the NAIA quarterfinals. In the national title game, Azusa Pacific found itself locked into a 1-1 tie with Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at the end of regulation, despite out-shooting the Blue Raiders by a 26-8 margin. In the fourth overtime, Lindsey Wilson’s golden goal ended the Cougars’ national title hopes. Three Cougars were named to the NAIA All-Tournament team, and a program-record 6 players earned NAIA All-American recognition.

In his rookie campaign in 2000, Surrell orchestrated the Cougars to a 19-3-3 mark while bettering that the following year when the Cougars finished 17-1-1 and earned their fourth straight trip to the NAIA semifinals, where they fell to Oklahoma City in a shootout. In 2002, the Cougars finished 16-4-0, advancing to the NAIA title game for just the second time in school history, and in 2003, Azusa Pacific went 13-4-3 and made its sixth consecutive NAIA quarterfinal appearance. In 2004, a 15-2-1 Cougar squad was upset in the first round of the NAIA Tournament. In 2005, Surrell and the Cougars put together an unbeaten streak of 21 games before bowing out of the NAIA Tournament in the quarterfinals with a 17-1-4 mark. With a 7-0-3 record in GSAC play, Surrell and the Cougars re-claimed the conference crown after back-to-back second-place finishes.

Under Surrell’s direction, Azusa Pacific has gone 57-5-5 in GSAC play over the past 7 seasons, the best run of any team in the conference in that time. Fittingly, Surrell was named GSAC Coach of the Year each of his first 3 seasons at the helm and again in back-to-back seasons in 2005 and 2006.

An assistant coach for 4 seasons, Surrell became the head coach in 2000 when Christian Johnson was named the director of soccer at Cal State San Bernardino. While Azusa Pacific was in between coaches during the spring of 1997, Surrell coordinated the recruiting effort that landed eventual NAIA Players of the Year Kendra Payne (1998), Andrea Alfiler (2001), formerly of the WUSA’s Philadelphia Charge, as well as NAIA All-Americans Janay Duran and Missy Myers in what has been termed the best recruiting class in school history.

His coaching career began in 1996 at Bonita High School in La Verne, Calif. Each of his 3 Bearcat boys’ teams won the Valle Vista League championship (Bonita’s first ever league titles), with the 1997 squad advancing to the CIF semifinals. After posting a 57-15-4 record in 3 years at Bonita, Surrell took over the boys’ soccer program at South Hills High School in Covina, Calif.

His initial season with the Huskies was a coach’s dream campaign. After fulfilling a key role in Azusa Pacific’s national championship pursuit in the fall of 1998, he then led South Hills to the CIF 4A championship with a 17-2-4 campaign in the spring of 1999, his first year at the South Hills helm. As a result of his prep title, Surrell was named CIF Coach of the Year.

A former Cougar standout, Surrell was a 4-year starter and a key figure during a successful period of Azusa Pacific men’s soccer, playing in 75 games during his career, starting all but 4 of them. He scored 5 goals and tallied 13 points while playing for a Cougar program that posted a 43-29-9 record from his 1992 freshman season through his 1995 senior campaign. He patrolled the Cougar midfield as a freshman and sophomore but moved to the defense for his final 2 seasons of play. As a sophomore, he garnered NAIA All-District second team recognition.

A native of Orange County, Surrell prepped at Irvine (Calif.) High where he was a 2-time All-South Coast League first team selection. During his 1992 senior season, he was named team MVP and Orange County Register All-County second team.

Surrell, 33, graduated from Azusa Pacific with a bachelor’s degree in social science in 1996. In the summer of 1998, he married Azusa Pacific alum Leah Stanley. The Surrells have a 5-year-old daughter, Taylor, and they live in Upland, Calif.