A Clear Standard
Athletes need to know what good looks like. Forge sets expectations for effort, accountability, communication, and execution from day one.
Mission & Founder Story
Why Forge Was Built
Forge was built to replace scattered training with a clear standard families can understand and athletes can chase. The story starts with three beliefs:
A Real Development Path
Training should match the player’s age, position, current level, and goals — not a generic list of drills.
Championship-Caliber Coaching
High-level coaching builds confidence through earned competence, discipline in preparation, skill under pressure, and leadership athletes can carry beyond lacrosse.
The Mission
Build the Player. Shape the Standard.
Forge exists for athletes who need more than activity. They need structure, honest feedback, and coaching that challenges them to train with purpose.
The mission is to create an environment where players learn to compete, communicate, and hold themselves to a higher standard.
Founder
Coach Doug Steele
Founder
NCAA All-American
4-Year Captain
Hailing from Long Island, New York—one of the nation’s premier hotbeds for elite lacrosse—Coach Doug Steele established a foundation of athletic excellence early on as a four-year, dual-sport varsity starter and team captain in both lacrosse and football.
He carried that leadership to Sacred Heart University, where he cemented his legacy as a multi-year NCAA All-American, four-time Defensive MVP, and a rare four-year team captain. Today, Doug channels that elite competitive pedigree into Forge Lacrosse Performance, delivering a highly structured, championship-caliber development system to athletes across Upstate South Carolina.
Standards
Forge sets expectations around preparation, effort, attitude, and accountability.
Clarity
Athletes need to understand what they are working on and why it matters.
Growth
The goal is long-term development: skill, confidence, leadership, and competitive habits.
Why Forge
Why Forge
The difference is structure. Forge connects lacrosse skill work, athletic growth, feedback, and family communication so athletes know what to improve and how to attack it.
Position-Specific Development
Training is built around the demands of the athlete’s position, age, experience level, and next competitive step.
Performance Support
Forge connects lacrosse training with athletic development so players can move, compete, and prepare with more purpose.
Clear Next Steps
Families should not have to guess. Forge helps identify what matters most now and what should come next.
Leadership
The Coaches
Doug Steele
Founder & Head Coach
Doug Steele grew up on Long Island, New York, in one of the country's most competitive lacrosse environments. A four-year varsity starter in both lacrosse and football from 9th through 12th grade, Doug captained both teams before continuing his lacrosse career at Sacred Heart University, where he became a multi-year NCAA All-American, four-year captain, and four-time Defensive MVP. He founded Forge Lacrosse Performance to bring that same standard of toughness, leadership, discipline, and game-speed player development to South Carolina athletes.
- Long Island, NY lacrosse & football captain
- Four-year varsity starter in both sports
- Multi-year NCAA All-American Lacrosse Player
- Sacred Heart University · #19 · Four-Year Captain
- Four-Time Defensive MVP
- Founder, Forge Lacrosse Performance — South Carolina
Alex Cobb
Assistant Coach
Alex Cobb brings high-level playing experience and a genuine passion for developing the next generation of lacrosse talent in the Carolinas. An active competitive player himself, Alex brings real game-speed intensity to every session. His technical background and athlete-first coaching style make him a key part of the Forge development system across all age groups and positions.
- Active high-level competitive player
- Youth & travel program coaching experience
- Offensive systems & fundamentals specialist
- Player development — all ages & skill levels
Official Affiliation
USA Lacrosse
Expanding the Mission
Women’s Lacrosse — Coming to Forge
Women’s Lacrosse Is Next.
We're Building It the Right Way.
We're Building It the Right Way.
Forge is expanding to women's lacrosse — and we're not rushing it. The same standard that drives our men's program applies here: elite instruction, a real curriculum, and a coach who's played at a high level and coaches with a purpose. We're actively recruiting the right women's head coach before we open registration. When the right person is in place, we launch.
Planned Program Structure
Grades 7–12
Women's Defensive Academy
Position-specific defensive development for the women's game — draw controls, clears, marking, and defensive IQ at the 8-meter and beyond.
Coming Soon
Grades 7–12
Women's Offensive Academy
Shooting, dodging, 8-meter arc play, and crease attack — built around the speed and skill demands of the women's game from youth through varsity.
Coming Soon
Grades K–6
Girls Future Ballers
Movement-first, fun-driven girls lacrosse foundation. Building confident, skilled athletes from the first time they pick up a stick.
Coming Soon
Forge Ecosystem
The Complete Athlete System
Technology · assessment · performance expertise · Greenville, SC
Innovation through technology, training, and elite performance expertise.
Forge Lacrosse Performance uses D1 Training Greenville as the home base for proprietary lacrosse-specific performance training. Fusion Sports Performance supports the system through elite performance expertise, assessment review, and custom program insight.
Together, Forge connects field skill, positional IQ, athletic testing, performance training, technology, and measurable feedback inside one complete athlete-development model.
AssessMovement, speed, power, position needs, and performance baselines.
BuildCustom training priorities connected to lacrosse demands.
TrackProgress through Forge Score, technology, and athlete feedback.
01Forge Method
Lacrosse-specific skill, habits, decision-making, and position development.
02D1 Training Greenville
The dedicated performance training home for Forge lacrosse-specific athlete development.
03Fusion Sports Performance
Elite expertise helps turn assessment data into smarter custom training priorities.
04Forge Score
Clear progress tracking so athletes and families know what to improve next.
Complete Athlete System
One development model. Clearer priorities. Better feedback.
The Forge Ecosystem is now presented as a performance model on this page: Forge Method, D1 Training Greenville, Fusion Sports Performance, and Forge Score working together to support smarter lacrosse-specific athlete development. Partner logos are intentionally not repeated here.
View Community Partners →Next Step
Ready to Build the Right Plan?
Start with an Athlete Evaluation so Forge can understand the player’s goals, position, experience, and development needs.