Tim Ward, who is now in his third decade as head coach of the Pepperdine women’s soccer program, has positioned the Waves among the nation's elite for much of his tenure. He begins his 26th season in charge in 2023.

Since first assuming head coaching duties in 1998, Ward has led his team to 21 winning seasons and 12 NCAA Tournament berths, including four Sweet 16 appearances. In addition, the Waves have finished the year with Top 25 recognition nine times and captured four West Coast Conference titles.

Ward has led the Waves to an overall record of 288-142-66 (.647) with 17 seasons of double-digit victories. He was the runner-up for Soccer Buzz National Coach of the Year honors in 2002. He (and/or his staff) have earned United Soccer Coaches West Region honors five times and he’s been the WCC Coach of the Year on five occasions (2002, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017).

His players have earned All-American status seven times, All-West Region honors 56 times, All-WCC notice 131 times (38 times on the first team) and WCC All-Academic awards 92 times.

Ward has been with Pepperdine from nearly the beginning, as the women's soccer program was established in 1993 and he came aboard as an assistant coach in 1994. After four years as an assistant, he was elevated to the head coaching spot in 1998.

After his teams produced winning seasons in 1999 and 2000, the 2001 campaign proved to be a breakthrough year for Ward and the Pepperdine women's soccer team. The program received its first-ever top-25 national ranking and made its debut in the NCAA Tournament, a 1-0 first-round victory over USC. One other season highlight was a 1-0 overtime victory against second-ranked and eventual national champion Santa Clara. The Waves concluded the 2001 season with a 12-5-3 record and ranked #20 nationally by Soccer Buzz, #22 by the NSCAA and #24 by Soccer Times.

That success catapulted Pepperdine to even greater heights in 2002 as the Waves opened the season with a school-record 12-match unbeaten streak. Pepperdine ended the season with a remarkable 18-2-2 overall record, defeated both perennial powers Santa Clara and Portland and shared its first-ever WCC championship. In the 2002 NCAA Tournament, the Waves went on the road to defeat Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Wisconsin to move Pepperdine into the Sweet 16 for the first time. The Waves finished in the Top 10 in all four major soccer polls, including a program-high #5 ranking by Soccer America.

The Waves continued their run of success in 2003, posting an overall mark of 14-6-1 and earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. For the third straight year, Pepperdine won its first-round match after a 1-0 victory over USC. In 2004, Pepperdine concluded the season with a 9-7-3 overall record and received another at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The program continued to see success in 2005, as Ward led the Waves to an overall record of 15-4-3, its second Sweet 16 appearance and a top 20 final ranking. Pepperdine was ranked as high as #7 at one point during the season by Soccer Buzz. In the NCAA Tournament, fourth-seeded Pepperdine traveled to Nashville, Tenn., and posted first and second-round victories over Mississippi and Samford, respectively.

The Waves went through a five-year stretch with several near-misses on NCAA Tournament berths, but finally broke through again in 2011. Pepperdine posted one of its best seasons ever, as the Waves won the WCC title for the second time. Pepperdine went 15-2-4 and 7-1-0 in the WCC and finished the season with a #10 national ranking by the NSCAA. The Waves hosted an NCAA Tournament match for the first time in school history, but lost to Long Beach State in the first round.

Pepperdine continued to roll in 2012, qualifying for its second straight NCAA postseason berth and hosting an opening-round game for the second consecutive year. The Waves spent the entire campaign ranked in the top-25 in at least one of the major polls but fell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to California in a hard-fought 1-0 decision.

Led by the Waves’ first-ever first team All-American, Lynn Williams, Pepperdine reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in 2014, had a final national ranking of 10th and posted the program’s second-highest win total at 16-3-4.

2016 was yet another banner year for the Waves, with Ward guiding the program to its third WCC title and another NCAA Tournament appearance. The Waves played into the second round of the NCAA Tournament, going 12-5-4 on the year and finishing ranked 22nd in the NSCAA Coaches Poll.

The 2017 season was equally special, as the Waves won their first back-to-back WCC crowns, and won the league title outright for the first time. Pepperdine’s first-ever WCC Player of the Year, Bri Visalli, helped spark the Waves to a 15-3-3 overall record and an 8-0-1 mark in the WCC. Pepperdine advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished with a #16 national ranking.

The 2019 Waves returned to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time under Ward. The 2021 squad had one of the best seasons in program history, making the NCAA Round of 16 for the fourth time, going 17-4-1 overall (one win shy of the school record) and finishing with a #13 national ranking.

A 1989 graduate of Agoura (Calif.) High School, Ward earned All-CIF Southern Section first team honors as a senior and was tabbed the Frontier League's Most Valuable Player after leading the Chargers to a dazzling 23-3-1 record. Ward continued his soccer career at nearby California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif. During his four-year tenure, the Kingsmen compiled a record of 57-18-8 (.735).

Cal Lutheran won or shared the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in 1991, 1992 and 1993, and advanced to postseason play in 1990, 1991 and 1992. The 1992 team established a single-season school record by winning 15 matches, and the Kingsmen advanced to the NCAA Division III Far West Regional championship match before losing to Colorado College.

Ward was recognized on the Adidas All-Academic team after his senior year in 1992, and was an All-SCIAC first team selection in 1992 after earning second team honors in 1991. Ward earned his bachelor's degree from Cal Lutheran in December of 1993, graduating magna cum laude while specializing in the fields of biology and psychology.

Ward served as the head coach for the junior varsity boys' soccer team at Agoura High for five years from 1989-93. In 1994 he was named the school's varsity coach. In their most successful season since joining the Marmonte League, Ward directed the Chargers to a 12-7-3 record. He was inducted into the Agoura HS Hall of Fame in 2016.

Ward possesses a United States Soccer Federation "B" coaching license.

An accomplished musician, Ward is a talented singer and acoustic guitarist. He was a member of the band "Your Moose," a group that performed original contemporary folk rock and released its first compact disc in 1997. His group "Ward & Egertson" released a CD in 2009.

Ward and his wife, Shelby, have three children -- Abigail, Nathaniel and Charlotte.