‘It’s been a heck of a ride’: Longtime Spring Valley soccer coach set to retire

Soccer in the Midlands – and across South Carolina for that matter – has grown exponentially over the last two to three decades.

Right at the forefront of that movement, especially in the rise in popularity of girls’ soccer, has been the presence of Spring Valley coach Steve Lea. But after 27 years – the last 24 with the Vikings – Lea is retiring from coaching at the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

It was a decision that has been thought about over time and was delivered to Spring Valley AD Tim Hunter about three weeks before spring break.

“I told my wife a few weeks into the season,” Lea said earlier this week. “She said I wouldn’t do it. And I said, ‘no, I think it’s time.’ I felt like we would have a decent year at worst. We talked a few more times and about a month later, I said this was it.”

The accolades are long and lengthy for Lea. The started his coaching career at Lugoff-Elgin (in boys’ soccer) at 22 years old because in his words they were “desperate and found out I knew a little bit about soccer.”

He parlayed that into the Spring Valley job, where he’s had ample success the past 24 years. He’s won 11 region championships with the Vikings and guided them to a 346-178-23 record through games of this past Tuesday. Twice Lea finished as state runner-up (1998, 1999) and only three times over that span has he had a losing season.

But outside of what he accomplished with Spring Valley, his vision and direction has turned the Viking Cup into one of the prestigious, elite tournaments in the country in a short amount of time. Lea has watched the field grow from eight teams when he started to the 32-team field that typically features the best 32 teams in the state each season.

Lea will continue to be the Director of the Viking Cup.

“The demands of the job and the time you have to put in, with the tournament that I run, which I will continue to do, and my teaching load, it got to a point where I decided it might be time,” he said.

The reasoning behind Lea’s decision to step down featured many different factors. He’s still relatively young, not yet reaching his 50’s and in good health. His daughter, Austin Lea, is a senior on this seasons team that is 15-2 and the No. 1 seed from Region 4-5A for the upcoming playoffs.

And that is the way Lea wanted to leave, while the program was in good shape and not like it looked after last season when they won five games and were decimated with several serious injuries.

“I did not want to go out like when Steve Spurrier left South Carolina when they have a terrible, losing season,” Lea said. “The last two years we struggled because we were brutalized with injuries. This year, we’ve remained healthy. We’ve had that good season so with this year, it felt like it would be the appropriate time to do it.”

Lea delivered the news to his team, Austin included, soon after meeting with Hunter.

“He told me the same time he told the team,” Austin Lea said. “I was shocked and honestly a little offended. I was extremely surprised. All the girls looked at me and I didn’t know a thing. But it’s cool he’s leaving with me. We want to go out and end it on a good note for sure.”

Spring Valley honored Lea on Tuesday night before their contest with A.C. Flora. Several former players were in attendance along with Lea’s family. He was presented with a framed jersey and SV letter while his list of accomplishments was read to the crowd.

Lea, who rarely if ever seeks attention, was humbled by the gesture.

“I was tremendously appreciative of everything I saw and heard before the game,” Lea said. “I figured out something was going on when certain people started showing up, but I had no idea anything like that was going to happen. That was emotional and touching.”

“It’s been a heck of a ride. I don’t want it end, not only for me but for the kids. I want to see a good run through the playoffs.”

This story was originally published April 26, 2019 at 2:07 PM.