Jason Pasion

Jason Pasion completed his third season as head coach of the Pride’s Men and Women’s Tennis programs in 2018-19. He came to Hofstra in September of 2016 after serving in the same capacity at NYIT, where he led the Bears to great success.

In his three seasons, the Hofstra Men's Tennis team has won 32 matches and the win total has increased each season. He has also coached the Pride Women's Tennis team to 32 victories including a 12-win campaign in 2018-19 following a pair of 10-win seasons. In May 2019 Pasion was named the Long Island College Coach of the Year by the United States Tennis Association Eastern Region.

In his first season with the Pride, Pasion won nine matches with the Hofstra Men's Tennis team and oversaw a doubles team in Vulinovich and Haener that earned a No. 7 ITA Regional Ranking following a quarterfinal apearance at the ITA Northeast Regional Championship. The ranking was the first for a Hofstra doubles team. Pasion coached the Hofstra women to 10 victories, with three players notching double-digit wins led by Disha Yellayi's 15.

During the 2017-18 season Pasion won 10 matches with the men's program and saw the doubles team of Niko Vulinovich and Coco Haener, and singles players Marcus Smith and Jan Leithner compete in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the first time in program history. Vulinovich and Haener also earned second team All-Colonial Athletic Association accolades. The women's tennis team also won 10 matches under Pasion's tutelage in 2017-18 led by freshman Alejandra Ruffini's 20-win season.

In 2018-19 the men's team went 13-8 on the season, one win shy of the program record. Smith, Leithner, Haener, and Shawn Jackson each competed at the ITA All-American Championships, with Leithner and Jackson each winning a match. Smith earned second team All-CAA honors in singles play while Jackson, a freshman, set the team record for victories in a season with 27. Jackson was one of three 20-match winners on the squad, joined by classmate Giacomo Pezzoli (23) and Smith (22). On the doubles side, Smith and Leithner and Haener and Jackson set the program record for wins in a season with 21. The Hofstra women went 12-11 in 2018-19 with Ruffini collecting All-CAA Second Team accolades. She also partnered with freshman Katherine Kachkarov to win 19 matches, setting a program record. Ruffini's 20 wins led four Pride players - Sarah Catherine Herndon (15), Kachkarov (14) and Odessa Stork (11) - with double-figure victory totals.

In two years at NYIT, Pasion coached the men’s tennis program to back-to-back East Coast Conference championships and a spot in the 2016 NCAA Division II Elite 8 for the first time in program history. He compiled a 36-12 record on the men’s side and was the ITA East Region and ECC Coach of the Year in 2016. The NYIT men were ranked as high as No. 13 in the nation during Pasion’s tenure and were consistently ranked second in the region as well.

He was also the ITA East Region and ECC Coach of the Year on the women’s side in 2016 after leading the team to a 20-7 record, an ECC championship and a spot in the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals for the third consecutive season. Pasion also coached the team to an ECC title in his first season at the helm and was 38-11 in his two seasons. The Bears were ranked as high as 10th in the nation during his tenure and were the top-ranked team in the region on multiple occasions.

In addition to their success on the court,both NYIT tennis programs were named ITA All-Academic Teams and numerous players were recipients of ITA academic awards.

Pasion is highly active within the ITA and currently serves as the Association’s East Region Men’s Ranking Chairperson and the East Region Men’s Awards Chairperson.

A four-year starter at both singles and doubles at the State University of New York at Oswego, Pasion was team captain in both his junior and senior years. He still plays competitively in the 35 and over USTA age division and has been ranked in the Eastern Section and the Long Island Region in singles play in recent years. Pasion has also coached many nationally and sectionally-ranked juniors and touring professionals, and has coached at numerous professional tournaments including the US Open.

In May 2010 Pasion was appointed by the USTA Eastern Section to recruit and coach the section's top players to compete for the prestigious George Myers Church Cup. He has held that position since then and led the Eastern team to the 2013 championship; an achievement the Eastern Section has accomplished only twice in the previous 25 years. Pasion is currently a USTA Eastern Section National Coach, traveling with some of the nation's top players to numerous national events. In 2015 he coached the USTA Eastern National Team to a second place finish at USTA Intersectional Championship in Auburn, Alabama.

Pasion was the recipient of the 2010 USTA Long Island Community Service Award, an award given to an individual whose dedication to serving the tennis community is outstanding and unique.

Along with his tennis accomplishments, Pasion has served as the assistant to the director of tennis at The Mill River Club in Oyster Bay, New York, and is a staff professional at the Sportime/John McEnroe Tennis Academy.

Pasion graduated from Oswego is 2000 with a degree in psychology. In 2007 he graduated from Touro College School of Health Sciences with a degree in physician assistant studies and has worked in the specialty of primary care/family medicine.