POMONA – Cal Poly Pomona head women's soccer coach Jay Mason has announced the hiring of Jackie Bruno as the head assistant coach for the program ahead of the 2021 fall season.
 
Bruno comes to CPP after serving as head coach at NCAA Division II College of Staten Island since the close of the 2019 season.
 
"We are thrilled to add Jackie to our staff here at CPP," said Mason. "She brings a tremendous amount of experience at the highest levels of the game which will fit right in with our ambitious and driven group of young women. Jackie's knowledge and experience running her own program will be instrumental in helping our team reach their academic and athletic goals this fall and beyond. I know she will continue the tradition of recruiting the best and brightest student athletes to CPP while pouring into our current group of exceptional young ladies."

A former high school standout on Staten Island in New York and then top-level collegiate and professional player, Bruno spent time at Wagner College as a Graduate Assistant coach, and also with the New York/New Jersey Red Bulls Grassroots Programs. The appointment at the College of Staten Island was her first collegiate head coaching assignment. Named coach almost immediately following CSI's 2019 season, Bruno started by bolstering the roster with the intention of putting a competitive dent into the East Coast Conference in her debut coaching season in 2020 before the fall and spring seasons were eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I'm so excited about the opportunity to coach here Cal Poly Pomona and become a part of an already amazing women's soccer program," said Bruno. 

Bruno brings a rich soccer history in tow with her to CPP. A standout at Staten Island Technical High School, she was a four-time Staten Island Advance All-Star and 2011 Wingate Award winner, tallying 91 career goals and 25 assists en route to a PSAL Championship in 2009 and All-State honors in 2009 & 2011. From 2012-16, she starred for NCAA Division I UMass-Amherst, collecting 31 points on 13 goals and five assists with six game-winners. She was named captain in 2014 and was a 2015 NEWISA Senior Bowl participant. 

Bruno continued to compete professionally post-graduation. She was an All-UWS First-Team selection in 2016 & 2017 with New Jersey Copa FC, and was on the Sky Blue FC preseason roster in March of 2017, before landing with Telge United FF in Sweden, tallying five points in just 120 minutes before an injury ultimately ended her playing career.

Alongside her tremendous playing career, Bruno has been on the coaching circuit as well before landing at CSI and now CPP. Serving as a private instructor for many years, she worked with U9 Girls' teams with Cedar Stars Academy beginning in 2016 and then later with the Red Bulls in 2017.  From August 2016 to April of 2017 she served as a Graduate Assistant at Wagner College, where she helped plan practice sessions and organized game day operations and away game accommodations and travel.  

A graduate of UMass - Amherst with a Bachelor's Degree in Sports Management & Finance, Bruno achieved her MBA in Marketing at Wagner College.