Nelson University Welcomes Jeffrey Penzone as the Women's Head Soccer Coach

Nelson University is excited to announce the addition of Jeffrey Penzone as the school's inaugural head Women's Soccer Coach. Penzone is a longtime Arizona resident who has been called to lead, coach and mentor on a variety of levels for soccer that include youth, junior high school, high school and college.  

 

Coach Penzone is a graduate of the Cactus High School Cobras (1984), where he excelled as a forward, midfielder and defender. His accolades include helping get the program off the ground at CHS, logging the first ever goal for in program-history and being named the school's first all-state selection his Senior year. Continuing his passion for soccer, he attended Glendale Community College (1985-1986) where he helped start their program, eventually named 1st team all ACCAC in his second year. 

 

In 1991, Penzone began his coaching career at Peoria High School followed by stints at Centennial (1992-1997) and Sunrise Mountain (1997-2000). During this time, he was hired by Glendale Community College to start the Women's Soccer Program in 1996.

 

In 2004, Penzone found his perfect fit in high school coaching at Northwest Christian and spent the next 18 years coaching both the boy's (2004-2014) and girl's (2014-2022) programs, racking up over 325 wins, 6 state championships, 2 state runners up and 13 conference championships. He received a variety of Arizona Region Coach of the Year honors and AZ 3A State Coach of the Year honors. In 2019, he was recognized as the Coach of the Year for the West Region of the National Federation of High Schools which included the states of California, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii. Additionally, in 2007, he was called to start the Men's Soccer program at Southwestern College (now Arizona Christian University) and worked in the new program for three years as both a head coach and assistant coach. He has also coached at the club level in the Desert Elite SC and the CCV stars program for over 10 years.

 

Off the field, Jeffrey Penzone is deeply dedicated to his family. Married to Nancy, together they are proud parents to five children, Trevor, Liz, Adam, Lexie and Nate.

 

Nelson University is thrilled to have Jeffrey Penzone join our team, confident that his experience, leadership, and passion for developing athletes will elevate our programs to new heights. Please join us in welcoming Coach Penzone to the Nelson University family!