- (614) 619-8320
- 330 W Case St, Powell, OH 43065
Our Philosophy
Built around the kid, not the scoreboard.
In a youth sports culture obsessed with early competition, rankings, and specialization, children are being pushed to perform before they’ve ever had the chance to fall in love with the sport. The pressure starts young, and the burnout starts not long after.
75% of children
quit all organized sports by age 13
Not because the sport gets too hard, but because it stops being fun.
After years of competitive coaching at the collegiate and professional level, Steve Locker saw that statistic and decided to do something about it.“In our country, as a general statement, youth soccer is a complete disaster. It’s greedy, it’s winning-first, the players are the last thing on anyone's mind.”
— Landon Donovan
The Founding Story
Steve founded Locker Soccer in 2004 when he discovered there was a valuable connection between fun, sports and childhood development. He later founded Second Nature Sports and authored Playing For The Long Run in 2013 to share his coaching philosophy with others. He holds a Master of Education degree.
With 19 years of collegiate coaching experience, 20+ years of child development experience, and work alongside childhood development psychologists at The Ohio State University, Steve meticulously designed every detail of our programs to focus on holistic development, not just building great soccer players. We teach children how to handle frustration, how to try something outside their comfort zone, and how to fall short and come back anyway. That’s not a side effect. That’s the entire point!
Children develop at different rates physically, emotionally, and athletically. And when you give them the space to grow at their own pace, in an environment where they are supported and challenged appropriately, they will almost always outlast the child who was pushed too soon.What We Believe
Three Principles that Shape Every Program We Run
Joy is the method, not the reward
When children are genuinely having fun, they absorb more, try harder, and come back next week. We don’t treat fun as something kids earn after they’ve worked. It’s how the work gets done.
Every child is an individual
a 6 year old who has been kicking a ball since age two needs something different from a 6 year old picking one up for the first time. We take the time to understand where each child actually is and place them in the environment where they’ll thrive and be challenged, not just participate.
Failure is part of the plan
we don’t protect kids from difficulty, we prepare them for it. Learning to fall short, reset, and try again isn’t just a soccer skill. It’s a life skill.
Watch the Talk
Youth Sports: "The Fast Lane to Retirement" by Steve Locker
Steve’s TEDx talk on why the way we approach youth sports is failing our kids, and what we can do about it.
Meet the Founder
Steve Locker
founder of Locker Soccer Academy & Locker Elite
Steve has 16 years of collegiate head coaching experience including: 7 years at Harvard University, 3 years at the University of Rochester and 6 years at Otterbein College. Steve’s coaching career includes 8 League Championships, including 2 Ivy League titles. He has coached players that have been drafted by the MLS, several All Americans and over a dozen Academic All Americans. His 1996 Harvard squad finished the season with the nation’s longest win streak that year (16 games) and finished the season ranked 7th nationally of all Division I schools. He played collegiate soccer for Penn State and internationally for Hannover 96 in Germany.
Steve holds the distinction of being the first American to earn a professional coaching diploma from Germany. He has worked with A.C. Milan’s top team in Italy and has been the only American to be offered a position working with their youth players on their Academy staff.
Steve resides in Upper Arlington with his wife, Cindy. His son, Scott, is a First Lieutenant in the Marine Corps, and his daughter, Chloe, is finishing her Master’s in Economics at Uppsala University in Sweden, where she now lives.
Steve Locker's Qualifications
- Founder, Owner, Coach at Locker Soccer for 20 years
- Head Coach at Harvard University for 7 Years
- Head Coach at University of Rochester for 3 Years
- Head Coach at Otterbein College for 6 Years
- Worked with A.C. Milan in Italy
- Holds a Professional Coaching diploma from Germany
- Played professionally at Hannover 96 in Germany
- Holds a Master of Education degree
- Played collegiately for Penn State
- Won 8 Championship titles in 16 years of collegiate coaching
- Author of Playing For The Long Run