Kai Lockton was a standout attackman on the ADVNC SF & NDP '22 squad who is committed to playing at Amherst College this coming Fall.
Kai Lockton has had a stick in his hand since … well .. diapers!
Lockton learned lacrosse when he was young from his dad, Curt. Curt played lacrosse at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey but ultimately decided to sail in college.
"I always loved lacrosse and still had a passion for the sport when I had kids and moved to the Bay Area," said Curt Lockton. Curt put Kai in the Firehawks Club program when he was 8 years old.
"Some of my best memories are playing with the Firehawks," said Kai. "I remember going down to Santa Cruz for a tourney every year. The competition was great, the trophies were five feet tall, and my dad coached my team along with my best friend's dad."
Lockton has fond memories of his days winning huge trophies with the Firehawks.
"I saw that lacrosse was his passion early on," said Kai's mom, Jamie Lockton. "He had played football and basketball, but it was clear that lacrosse was his favorite sport. Kai would spend hours shooting lacrosse balls into the net in our backyard and loved getting together with his friends and teammates to play."
Kai tried out for ADVNC when he was 9 years old. "Back then, the 3rd-5th grade players were all one team, so I got to play with older kids," Kai said. "The level of play at those ADVNC practices was greater than anything I had experienced before."
Lockton’s youth ADVNC teams lost very few games…
Playing around the Bay Area and throughout California, Kai's ADVNC team was exceptional. "I don't think we lost a tournament game for the first four years," said Kai. "We had the same group of guys all those years, and we really bonded. Eventually, we started traveling to the East Coast together for tournaments, and it got more and more competitive. We were playing against the best players in the country."
Around that same time, Kai started playing for Shaydon Santos and his Cali-Lax Box program. "Box was a big part of my development. We had to play both offense and physical defense. The game was much quicker than I was used to, and I learned to play in very tight spaces," said Kai. “We would fly up to Calgary and British Columbia and play teams in these huge dedicated Box arenas. I have great memories of Cali-Lax and those Canadian tournaments."
When Kai was in middle school, the ADVNC NDP (National Development Program) started, eventually joining forces with Seattle Starz. "Those early NDP practices were something I hadn't seen before," said Kai. "Playing with the best NorCal guys and taking players from Seattle and Canada; there were no weak links. Everyone was good. It felt like East Coast lacrosse in California."
Kai (#18, standing far right) and the ADVNC NDP ‘22 at the Naptown Championship in Annapolis.
The highlight of Kai's ADVNC career was playing in the Naptown championship game in Annapolis, MD. "Playing in Navy's stadium and being broadcasted on TV by Quint Kessenich was an insane experience," Kai said. "We were playing the Annapolis Hawks, the #1 team in the nation, and we were just a group of guys from the West Coast."
Kai has always been an attackman. "I like going up against defenders and shooting. The feeling of scoring or making a big pass that leads to a goal is hard to recreate. Kai eventually grew to 6'5". Tall by any measure, especially for an attackman on a lacrosse field. "Attackmen tend to be shorter and super quick," said Kai. "I didn't know of any tall attackmen in the professional leagues, so I had to search for inspiration online. I discovered Cole Williams, a tall lefty attackman who played for Johns Hopkins. I watched a lot of his game film and would try and emulate some of his signature moves during practices. I learned how to use my size to my advantage, backing guys down around the crease."
Kai knew early on he wanted to play in college. "I had been thinking about it since I was a little kid. I loved the sport so much, I couldn't imagine not continuing to play in college. Plus, many of my teammates (with ADVNC and SHP) were going to play in college and realizing their dream."
Eventually, Lockton began talking with college coaches and getting some interest in the midst of the Pandemic. Kai created his own recruitment videos and notified college coaches when he was scheduled to play in showcases. Most coaches weren't attending games due to Covid restrictions, so much of their recruiting had to be done through online streaming of the tournaments. Kai said. "It was all very mysterious; you never knew which college coaches were watching the games."
Kai is excited to follow his dream to Amherst College.
Kai focused on Ivy League and NESCAC schools before eventually choosing Amherst College. "I liked the academics, the campus, and the town of Amherst. The lacrosse coaching staff was great too," Kai said.
The Locktons credit Coach Chris Rotelli (ADVNC Founder & CEO, and Kai's High School Head Coach at Sacred Heart Prep) for his help in the recruiting process. "Coach was very active in my process," said Kai. "He was looking out for me, sending me to showcases, and leading me in the right direction. Chris has been very key for me. I've always admired his leadership, knowledge of the game, and competitive drive. He was one of the reasons I wanted to go to SHP, and I can't imagine playing for anyone else."
When Kai gets to Amherst, he’s considering studying computer science, economics and continuing with music. Kai said that only those closest to him know this, but he’s an accomplished jazz pianist. “I’ve been playing since I was 4 years old,” Kai said. “It’s a big part of my life. Music is very therapeutic for me. I played classical music until I was 12 years old. That’s when I wanted to quit, but my parents urged me to continue. Then I found a new teacher named Peter Horvath in San Francisco. He’s a well-known musician and he introduced me to jazz music. He pushed me to focus on music more than lacrosse and it was a big predicament for me. I decided to keep doing both.”
Looking back on his entire youth lacrosse career and what it took to get into an academically focused college where he will play lacrosse, Kai has this advice for younger players. “Having strong grades makes it so much easier to get recruited,” he said. “Every college coach wants to see your transcript, multiple times. Aside from grades, work on your shooting skills, footwork, lift weights, and run hard during practices.. Putting in the work on and off the field is a must.”