Coach Seth

From Jaguar Academy Founder and Coach Seth Cupp

I was playing soccer in Joplin as a child since before I can remember. I started in recreational soccer until about the age of 9 or 10, when I got on a competitive team. I played competitively until around age 15, when I began to travel further away from Joplin to play and was getting on more competitive and committed teams. Growing up, I saw my friends who played baseball have the opportunity to attend a summer camp called Mickey Owens, started by the professional baseball player from Southwest Missouri. At that camp, youth baseball players got higher level coaching and had that time to hone their skills with intensive training for a week.

When I was in college, I got the idea to start a similar camp but for soccer. I wanted a place where people could focus on competitive, high-level coaching and playing. We would be a resource in the area for committed, talented young soccer players to take their skills to the next level. I wanted to provide an opportunity for players showing a great deal of promise to have their skills nurtured and supported.

As a student at Louisiana Tech in New Orleans, I played on a club team, which meant we had no coach – we were literally a club. After a year on the team, I became the unofficial coach. This was my first experience leading a team and coordinating games, the travel schedule, tournaments, working with the university, and organizing players and uniforms.

After graduation, I returned to Joplin and began contacting the owner of a 70-acre piece of land south of town on Jaguar Road, near my parents’ house. Using my earnings from my first job out of college, I started making offers on that land. Every month when I got a paycheck, I increased my offer by that much. After about three years, I finally had enough for an acceptable down payment and was able to purchase the land that is now the home of Jaguar Academy.

Jaguar Academy was formed in 2003 and we haven’t looked back. When I was growing up, I was one of 18 kids in a 30-mile radius that got to play on a competitive team based out of Joplin. I was lucky – if you weren’t one of those 18 kids, your only choice was to play recreationally. I’m honored to have been able to provide over 1,000 kids with the chance to play competitive soccer and challenge their abilities to be the best they can be.