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Kim Sutton
The winningest head coach in Chico State women’s soccer history, Kim Sutton is in her 23rd year at the helm of the Wildcats and 29th at the NCAA Division II level. Sutton has established herself as one of the top women’s soccer coaches in the nation—entering the 2023 season, she owns a 209-133-69 record in her 22 years with the Wildcats, and an overall mark of 264-175-83 in a career that has spanned four decades. Sutton has led the Wildcats to six California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) North Division crowns, 12 trips to the CCAA Tournament (winning the program’s first-ever CCAA conference title in 2007) and seven NCAA Championship Tournament appearances.
Sutton has averaged nearly 10 victories a season in her 28 years as a Division II college coach. She begins the 2023 season with a career winning percentage of .585, and her 264 victories ranks Sutton 17th among active D-II coaches nationwide and 33rd all-time. Adding in her five years as a junior college coach, Sutton’s all-time career winning percentage is an even more impressive .611.
Under Sutton’s tutelage, several Chico State women’s soccer players have earned individual recognition, racking up a combined 90 postseason conference awards, 56 All-West Region selections and six All-America honors. Sutton herself has earned CCAA Coach of the Year honors three times.
Sutton has seen to it that her program has excelled not only on the pitch, but in the classroom. The Wildcats have been recognized 11 times for academic excellence, receiving the United Soccer Coaches’ (USC) prestigious Team Academic Award.
Sutton led the Wildcats to another successful season in 2022, recording an overall record of 9-5-5 and a fourth place conference finish, good for Chico State’s sixth CCAA Championship berth in the last eight seasons. Nicole Fairbanks, Susanna Garcia, Emma Hofmann, and Brynn Howard all earned All-CCAA and All-West Region honors.
After sitting out the 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic and fielding a roster made up of more than 50 percent freshmen, Sutton steered Chico State to a 10-3-5 record in 2021 (the 12th time Sutton has guided a Chico State to double-digit wins in a season), a second place CCAA finish, and yet another postseason conference tournament berth. Garcia led the ’Cats, earning First Team All-CCAA and the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year honors, a First Team All-West Region selection, while being named USC Second Team All-America. Hofmann captured CCAA Freshman of the Year accolades.
Sutton reached a pair of personal milestones during the 2021 season. She logged her 250th career coaching victory October 1 vs. Cal State San Bernardino, and recorded the 200th career win of her Chico State coaching tenure November 4 against Cal Poly Humboldt.
With just two seniors on the roster, Sutton guided a young Wildcats’ squad to an 8-8-2 record in 2019. The high point of the season came on September 27, 2019, when the Wildcats defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills 2-1. It marked Sutton’s 187th career win at Chico State, moving her past Bob Russ as the winningest head coach in program history.
Sutton led Chico State to a 10-2-6 record in 2018, finishing second in the CCAA and advancing to the conference tournament for the fourth time in five seasons. The ’Cats, ranked No. 4 in the West Region, also earned their second straight invitation to the NCAA Championship Tournament. Sutton was honored at the end of the season by being named CCAA Coach of the Year.
Sutton’s Wildcats finished the 2017 campaign with an 11-6-2 record, placing fourth in the CCAA and earning berths in both the CCAA and NCAA Championship Tournaments.
Sutton piloted the Wildcats to an 8-7-2 mark in 2016, and in 2015 Chico State posted a 12-5-2 record, a second place CCAA finish, and an appearance in the conference tournament semifinals. Pooja Patel was named the CCAA’s Offensive Player of the Year, with Erin Woods selected as the conference’s Newcomer of the Year.
The 2014 season saw Sutton and the Wildcats register a 12-5-2 record, a second place CCAA finish, and a trip to the conference tournament finals. Sutton’s 2013 squad finished 8-8-2 on the season, placing fourth in the CCAA’s South Division.
The 2011 season is undoubtedly the most satisfying of Sutton’s Chico State coaching career, with the Wildcats posting a 13-6-6 record and capturing the CCAA North Division crown. After reaching the finals of the CCAA Championship Tournament, the ’Cats won the NCAA West Regional for the first time in program history to advance to the Final Four in Pensacola, Florida. Chico State’s wildly successful season came to a heartbreaking end when the Wildcats lost in a shootout to national runner-up Grand Valley State.
On October 25, 2010, Sutton recorded her 100th career victory as Chico State head coach in the Wildcats’ 4-2 win over Cal State Monterey Bay.
From 2004 to 2009, Sutton developed Chico State into a conference powerhouse, as the ’Cats won five CCAA North Division titles and appeared in five conference tournaments, bringing home the CCAA championship in 2007. Sutton was named CCAA Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2007, and her 2009 Wildcats squad recorded the program’s first-ever NCAA Championship Tournament victory.
On September 17, 2005, in just her 11th year at the Division II level, Sutton earned her 100th NCAA coaching victory with a 1-0 victory at San Francisco State.
Prior to her 2001 arrival at Chico State, Sutton spearheaded the Humboldt State women’s soccer program during its first six years of existence (1995–2000) and led the Lumberjacks to an overall record of 55-42-14, two Pacific West Conference titles and a pair of NCAA Championship Tournament appearances. In 1998, Sutton was named the Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year.
Sutton took her first head coaching job at Santa Rosa Junior College, guiding the Bear Cubs from 1990–94. She led the team to three conference titles and a pair of state championship matches while compiling an overall mark of 72-24-1.
As a player, Sutton earned All-Northern California Athletic Conference honors at Sonoma State in 1986, and competed for Team USA on its 1987 tour of Europe and the Soviet Union.
Sutton received her bachelor’s degree from Sonoma State in 1989, with an emphasis in teacher preparation. She earned her master’s degree in physical education with an emphasis in biochemical kinesiology from Sonoma State in 1993.
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