Upon Athletic Director Jack Surridge’s retirement last spring, longtime Men’s Head Soccer Coach John Born was the logical choice to replace him. Born has been a coach and teacher at North Park since 1999, and he worked closely with his predecessor.
“John is faithful, intelligent, creative, driven and successful in everything he undertakes,” says Surridge. “The future of Viking Athletics is in good hands.”
Born was officially named Assistant Vice President for Athletics and Sports Management, the latest of many roles he has served since joining the staff including adjunct professor and assistant athletic director.
Surridge lauded Born for developing North Park’s academic program in sports management and for having the “relational and recruitment skills to elevate our men’s soccer program from one win to 18 consecutive winning seasons and a national reputation for excellence.”
For his part, one of Born’s favorite aspects of North Park is its intercultural population. He loves walking through campus and seeing Scandinavian, Latino, and first-generation Polish students who are best friends.
“That does not happen at a lot of our rival schools,” Born says. “We’re proud of the diversity we have cultivated, and it’s one of the things that makes North Park great.”
Born has been around long enough to watch his players graduate and embark on successful careers as doctors, lawyers, business owners, pastors, and teachers.
“I attended the wedding of an alum from 10 years ago and was surprised to see 30 North Parkers at the wedding,” Born recalls. “It was a wonderful celebration and picture of the depth of relationships that are built here.”
Born is quick to point out that excellence in coaching is prevalent across all Viking sports programs.
“I have never seen a coaching staff this committed and united. We are one team as an athletic department; we all support one another and have the same vision: work harder, longer, and smarter than our competition,” Born says.
The goal for North Park’s athletic program? It’s always a goal to win conference, Born says, and from there, the hope is to win the NCAA championship.
“With new coaches and young teams, it may not be realistic to win conference or the NCAA, but if they do not have those goals, they’ll never get there,” Born says. “If they don’t talk and think about it, the goal will never come to fruition.”
The sense of winning expands beyond the playing field or basketball court, of course. Born says it’s vital that students are successful “on and off the field.” ( The 2018-19 men’s soccer team GPA average, for instance, was 3.3 among 50 players).
North Park’s updated facilities, Born says, “are at the top half of the conference,” as well as unparalleled training and medical assistance. That, and North Park’s city-centered location, have made it easier to recruit top-notch athletes. Under Born, the athletics department will also ramp up game-day marketing efforts and promotions so that students, alumni, and visitors have great game experiences.
It all adds up to an exciting future for Born and North Park Athletics.
“The transition to this new position has been exciting,” Born says. “I am learning a lot and am learning all the roles and responsibilities of this position. I was a college head coach for 24 years and, while I will miss aspects of coaching, it was time for a transition, and I have always wanted to challenge myself in this type of position.”