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Jaro Zawislan begins his first year as an assistant coach for the Stanford men's and women's soccer teams. Zawislan arrived on The Farm in February 2001 after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach with current men's soccer coaches Bret Simon and Matt Stimson at Creighton.
Last season, Zawislan helped lead Creighton to its most successful season in history. The Bluejays (22-4-0) earned a trip to the College Cup for the second time in five years and ended their season with a 2-0 loss to Connecticut in the championship match. The team’s appearance in the NCAA championship contest was the first by any Bluejay athletic squad in school history. Creighton finished second in the MVC regular-season race and set the school’s record for most wins in a season (22) with their 2-1 triple-overtime victory over two-time defending champion Indiana in the semifinal round of the College Cup. In 1999 Creighton's men's soccer team led the nation in goals against average, with starting goalkeeper Tom Zawislan being selected as NSCAA All-American.
Zawislan holds a USSF "B" License, a NSCAA National Diploma and a NSCAA Goalkeeper Academy Diploma. Zawislan coached the Nebraska State ODP Men's Open Under-23 squad and the Nebraska State ODP goalkeepers in 2000. Prior to his experience at Creighton and Nebraska State, he also coached at the Canadian Soccer Academy and served as player-coach of the Columbia Heat in the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues (USISL).
Zawislan began his professional career with the Columbia Heat, where he was a n Atlantic Division All-Star. He later went on to play one year for Arka Gdynia, a Division II professional team in Poland, as well as two seasons with the Detroit Neon/Safari of the Continental Indoor Soccer League.
Zawislan was a successful professional soccer player, but also a standout at Clemson. He was a three-time All-ACC selection and set the school record for saves (448). An Academic All-American, the 1993 graduate received the Jim Weaver Award, which is given annually to the top male ACC student-athlete.
Zawislan earned his master's degree in liberal studies from Creighton in 2001. He also holds a bachelor of arts in computer science from Clemson as well as a bachelor of education from University of Toronto. He is fluent in both Polish and Russian.