OKLAHOMA CITY (May 24, 2021) – Mitchell Sowerby, who coached Mid-America Christian to a string of championships during his two seasons leading the NAIA men's soccer program, will be Oklahoma Christian's new coach, OC Athletic Director David Lynn said Monday.

The 27-year-old Sowerby posted a 35-7-4 record at MACU, guiding the team from the southwest Oklahoma City university to the National Christian College Athletic Association title in 2019 and the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament championship and a berth in the final 10 of the NAIA tournament during the just-completed 2021 spring season.

"Mitchell stood out when we were evaluating applications," Lynn said. "His experience as a head coach, his experience as an assistant coach at Rogers State and his experience as a player at Rogers State separated him from the group. His success at MACU in a short period of time shows that he can recruit solid kids and he knows how to put together the course of a season, build a team, establish a culture – all the things that you're trying to find in a head coach.

"The impact he's had at the places he's been has been impressive. At both Rogers State and MACU, Mitchell is thought of extremely highly from some really great people that I admire. He has impressed everybody everywhere he's been. He's energetic and passionate about soccer and he knows what we need to do to be successful on the soccer field. I'm excited to see his leadership take form and for him to put his blueprint on our program."

Originally from Newcastle, England, Sowerby played as a defender for four seasons (2012-2015) at OC's former conference rival, Rogers State. He played more career minutes than any other non-goalkeeper in RSU program history, earning All-Heartland Conference honors three times and All-NCAA Division II South Central Region recognition once before graduating in 2016.

He joined the RSU men's coaching staff that year and over his three years as an assistant, the Hillcats posted a 26-21-8 mark. From 2014-2019, he served as a youth coach for the Northeastern Oklahoma Football Club, serving as its youth academy director from 2017-2019.

He became MACU's head coach in 2019 and that fall, he guided the Evangels to a 20-3-1 record, recording the most wins in a season in the program's history. After finishing second in the SAC standings with a 7-1-1 league mark, MACU won the NCCAA Central Region title, then also took the national crown with a 5-0 win over Grace (Ind.). Sowerby was named as the NCCAA coach of the year and he and his staff were named by the United Soccer Coaches' NCCAA staff of the year.

The fall 2020 season was moved to spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it didn't slow MACU's progress. The Evangels again finished second in the SAC, then won the SAC postseason tournament before winning two NAIA tournament opening-round matches to advance to the final 10 before closing a 15-4-3 season.

Sowerby holds a pair of coaching licenses – a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National "B" License, and he also has an English Football Association Level 1 License.

"This opportunity excites me," Sowerby said. "The very first thing we'll do is build a culture and create a winning mentality. The boys will need to understand that losing is not acceptable. We will hold them to high standards and make them accountable and make sure there is high character within the team and good people. When they leave OC, they'll know they are valuable people in society. If you do that, then the soccer will come a little bit easier. The soccer is the part that they all want to do.

"From the outside looking in, the program is set up to be successful and to compete at a high level. With what's here, the area, what's on campus, it can be a really successful program. It's just piecing it all together, really.

Sowerby met his wife, Bethany, when they were students at Rogers State and they have a 15-month-old son, Milo.

Sowerby will be the seventh coach in the history of OC's program, which started in 1986. Previous coaches include Bob Whiddon (1986), Nathan Shotts (1987-1993), Jon Goad (1994-1998), Eric Thornhill (1999-2001), Adam Basic (2002-2005) and David Scott (2006-2020). Scott now serves as OC's assistant athletic director for external relations, event management and facilities.