TULSA, Okla. - Less than a year removed from winning the 2018 USL Championship Final MVP, Luke Spencer was beginning to plan his next move. As a striker for Louisville City FC, Spencer had already put on the manager’s hat, serving as a player-coach the previous season and integrating into the budding academy system’s coaching ranks. 

With no shortage of talent in LouCity’s initial academy team, which went from an exciting prospect to a reality at the 2020 USL Academy Regional Event, Spencer was impressed by what he saw. Owen Damm stood out to Spencer among this crop of the best youth soccer players from Kentucky. 

“Owen had an athletic ability that stood out above all,” said Spencer. “He was really fast, he was strong, and a good competitor.” 

Damm’s natural athleticism helped turn heads as he made a name for himself in the growingly fruitful Louisville academy program. Now, just under four years after signing his first professional contract in 2022, Damm is a week-in, week-out starter for FC Tulsa, drawing recognition as one of the top outside-backs in the Championship.

Located in Versailles, Ky., the Damm household was a soccer family, despite being located between two of the most prolific college basketball schools in the country. Owen’s father, John, played Division I soccer for Army West Point. There was no shortage of time spent with a soccer ball rolling between the two and the younger Damm brother, Silas, who is currently signed to a USL Academy contract with LouCity and is playing his freshman season at the University of Louisville. 

“There’d be many long nights of my dad, Silas, and I kicking around in the yard,” recalled Damm. “That’s probably where the love of the game really came to fruition.” 

Damm grew up playing for Bluegrass Soccer Club until high school, when he switched to Lexington FC, where he fondly remembers winning a state title. As Damm looked for the next move in his development, an exciting new opportunity came about in Louisville.

LouCity’s current Academy Director, Guillermo Sanchez, says the success of the program has come from the buy-in from across the organization to make sure the project is successful.  

Players can get involved with recreational soccer at as young as U4s, before starting with the Academy at U8. Younger players focus more on developing individual skills, while older groups begin focusing on how to play more effectively as a team. Having a full pathway in-house allows LouCity to consistently challenge their players by moving them up in age groups for training and matches as it would benefit the player or the team. 

“You can have great ideas and a great set up, but if there’s no alignment [across the organization], things will break down at some point in the process,” said Sanchez. “The biggest thing we keep is a growth mindset. How can we adapt? How can we make things better for everybody and provide opportunities.” 

There is proof of concept for the success of LouCity’s Academy. Beside Damm, Joshua and Elijah Wynder began on academy contracts at Louisville and have since moved onto Benfica B in Portugal and LA Galaxy in MLS respectively. 

Damm looks fondly back on his time in the LouCity Academy, recognizing how the hard work and intense training helped him get to where he is now.

“It was definitely a grind,” reflected Damm. “Coming from a smaller town, I wasn’t always exposed to that level of competition and Mario [Sanchez], he’s had a lot of coaching jobs, so his experience I think helped not just me but all the pros that came out of the Louisville City Academy. Those practices were intense, and I think that’s one thing that really helped me.”

While developing into a USL Championship-quality player, Damm was still in high school. Thanks to the flexible nature of the USL Academy Contract and LouCity’s schedule, he was able to still play high school soccer, and light up the pitch while doing so. 

“It gave me a sense of pride just because my high school was the only one in Versailles and my high school coach, Fonyam Atanga, had a big role in my development,” said Damm. 

The defender made the all-state list three times, won three consecutive district titles, and scored 48 goals in 19 games during his final season. 

As his high school career wound down, as most talented players in the United States do, Damm was considering his options to play in college. However, as a senior during the 2020-2021 school year, Damm’s recruitment process suffered from the uncertainty and abnormalities caused by the pandemic. He had to rely more on recommendations and networking without being able to play in front of as many coaches as he might have in a typical season. 

But as Damm continued to impress and his coaches saw more and more potential in him, another option for his pathway appeared on the table.  

“It was halftime of a game, and I guess I wasn’t playing particularly well that day, and [Mario Sanchez] got into me at halftime and said, ‘I was supposed to sign a contract with the first team.’ I had no news of that prior, so I was like ‘Did he just say that?’” recalled Damm. 

It was a dream come true for Damm to sign a professional contract in his home state, something that, when he got the news, he was eager to share with his dad. 

“At times, it seems he’s more invested in my career [than I am]. But just to see how proud he and my mother were that I signed that contract was really all I cared about,” said Damm.

Having turned pro with his hometown club LouCity prior to 2022 season, Damm had realized a lifelong dream. But, as a young prospect, Damm wasn’t likely to break into the starting lineup ahead of the perennial USL Championship title contender’s veteran talent. In April 2022, he was loaned to Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC of USL League One for the remainder of the season. 

Damm was thrown straight into the fire, making his professional debut for the Hailstorm in their first game in club history, a 2-1 victory against USL Championship side Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC in the Second Round of the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. 

“We got a red card in the first half and I’m on the bench. I sub in at halftime, but the coaches had never seen me play really other than in practice, so it was kind of a shot in the dark that worked out,” said Damm. “It was a fun day for sure.” 

Not only did Damm develop as a player during his season-long stint in Colorado, making 17 appearances across all competitions, but he also learned a lot of life skills for a college-aged kid, moving on his own across the country. 

“It was hard to adjust because I had to learn how to do stuff for the first time like laundry and cooking, but I think it was what I needed in order to grow as a professional,” said Damm. 

He returned to Louisville in 2023 with that experience under his belt and a growing sense of confidence that he could make it as a professional soccer player. But LouCity’s depth again proved the challenge to overcome. Even with his status as one of the club’s homegrown products, minutes weren’t guaranteed. However, with a strong “player-driven culture,” Damm took a lot from his year back home.

“Once I got minutes at [LouCity], it built my confidence because I’m contributing for the best team in the league,” said Damm.

For the 2024 season, Damm was loaned to FC Tulsa, where familiar faces had also recently come aboard. Another loan stint provided more opportunities for Damm to grow into his boots and start running with the possibilities ahead of him.

“[Owen] knew the standards and the environment at [LouCity] and I think that was very important to us, bringing in players that knew what it was like in a high performing environment,” said Luke Spencer, who joined FC Tulsa in 2024 as an Assistant Coach before becoming the Head Coach this season. “We had a high level of belief in him, but we also knew he was going to have a chip on his shoulder and want a lot to prove. I think last season he was able to establish himself and this season, I think you’re seeing the payoffs with that.”

After a successful 2024 campaign where he made 26 appearances, Damm signed with FC Tulsa, making his move to Oklahoma permanent.

“[LouCity] taught me about environment and culture and how a championship-quality team should operate on a daily basis, but Tulsa has taught me pretty much everything else,” said Damm. “It’s hard to really learn if you’re not getting minutes on the field and I played a lot last year and this year. It’s taught me how to manage the ups and down of soccer because those are inevitable.” 

Now an established starter in the USL Championship, Damm has realized the goals that fueled him when he joined the LouCity Academy six years ago.

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