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.

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