Many youth soccer organizations boast experienced coaching, but none in the Jacksonville area combine professional experience with an individualized approach quite like EPIC Soccer Academy.
The company began in 2017 under the name of EPIC Goalkeeping, an area of emphasis that still remains. They offer camps, clinics and training, but now for all positions in the starting XI.
Daryl Sattler, the organization’s founder and owner, played 10 seasons at the professional level as a goalkeeper. His playing career spanned throughout the USL and NASL with Minnesota United FC, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, San Antonio FC and more, allowing him to get a good grasp on the goalkeeping scene here in the United States.
“The goalkeeper department tends to be an afterthought,” Sattler said. “A specialized position needs specialized training and since I’m a footballer and an ex professional, I wanted to develop the position.”
One way Sattler went about doing this was creating his own line of goalkeeping gloves. These can typically take a big hit on the wallet, so he wanted to make sure that there were affordable options for those looking to become keepers.
The signature mark of EPIC Goalkeeping’s gloves has to be the mustache on the index finger. While it is a boost on the marketing side, the stash reflects Sattler’s larger vision for approaching soccer as a whole.
“At the end of the day, I wanted to provide development and fun,” Sattler said. “It is a game; it needs to be fun or else we’re doing it wrong.”

EPIC Soccer Academy has already made great strides in a short amount of time, but there are bigger and better things nearing on the horizon. They will be opening their own soccer-specific facility off of Beach Boulevard dedicated to training and developing players. While it may look like any ordinary building from the outside, Sattler shared that it will resemble a “soccer speakeasy.”
There’ll be something for everyone, as the player’s parents will also be able to get a workout using the facility. This taps into something that Sattler believes is of great importance: community.
While his professional career adds to EPIC’s repertoire, Sattler also has plenty of experience coaching in the Jacksonville youth soccer scene. Whether it be his time as a club coach for a decade-plus or where he now serves as a goalkeeper coach for the UNF Ospreys’ men’s soccer squad, he knows and values the sport’s roots on the First Coast.
“What sets us apart is that as a third-party entity, anybody can come here,” Sattler said. “We welcome everybody, it doesn’t have to be restricted to a certain gender or a certain club.”
This also ties into the arrival of JAXUSL, which will be bringing top-level professional soccer back to Jacksonville. Like many figures in the local scene, Sattler is excited for the club’s genesis and what it will offer footballers in Northeast Florida.

“USL is a well-oiled machine, and I’m glad that they’ve captured the market in the Jacksonville region,” Sattler said. “Having a resource nearby to see professional soccer is going to be a blessing.”
Upon the opening of EPIC’s new facility, all training will be by appointment or class only. To learn more about what EPIC Soccer Academy has to offer, look at their products or to get in contact with Sattler, visit their website or in-person once their new headquarters open at 3047 Saint Johns Bluff Rd. in Jacksonville, Florida.