Norm Jackson helped found AYSO in the mid-1960s and was its Director of Coaching for more than a decade. He became the California Youth Soccer Association-South's first Director of Coaching in 1976 and held the position through 1993. He continued to volunteer for Cal South afterward.

Jackson, a member of the Cal South Hall of Fame and the AYSO National Hall of Fame, mentored many of Southern California's top players and coaches for more than three decades. His many coaching positions included stints at North High School in Torrance and El Camino College.

AYSO executive director Rick Davis, the former New York Cosmos defender and former U.S. captain, told the Daily Breeze, "He became somebody I relied upon as a mentor of sorts -- somebody who would provide great advice and knew the game. If somebody wanted to look back at the sport in Southern California or the South Bay there's just no way that landscape wouldn't be decorated all over the place with things connected to Norm Jackson."

Jackson was born Aug. 31, 1927 in England and immigrated to Ontario, Canada, in 1949. He moved to Southern California, via Rochester, N.Y., in 1957.

"Norm was a great friend, mentor and father to all of us," said Steve Hoffman, current Director of Coaching for Cal South.

Norm Jackson died of heart failure on March 18 at age 79 at his Torrance home.