RSL Academy turns passion to profession for young footballers

SANDY — An 18th birthday is an eventful year for any young adult, but the past year has been especially life changing for Real Salt Lake defender Jaziel Orozco, who signed his first professional contract, made his first MLS start and graduated from high school in 2022.

All of this is credited to the RSL Academy in Herriman, which Orozco has called home since 2019. It's there that young players like Orozco take their pure love of the game and gain the skills necessary to turn it into a viable career option.

Aaron Herrera, one of 15 "homegrown" players currently on the RSL roster, said if it wasn't for the academy, there's no way he would be playing professional soccer.

"It's just another level of coaching from your club teams, where it's usually someone's dad that's coaching," Herrera said. "It was always my dad growing up. Obviously, my dad had all the heart and would push us to be good players, but I don't think the tactics were there (like) training with coaches that are professional and it's their job to do that (at the academy)."

Herrera had a slightly different experience from Orozco; he attended the RSL Academy in Casa Grande, Arizona, before the opening of the team's new facility in Herriman in 2018. Herrera is joined by Andrew Brody, Justen Glad, Erik Holt, Tate Schmitt and David Ochoa as first-team players for RSL who spent time at the Arizona academy.

Orozco is part of a group of graduating academy members whose entire experience has been at the Herriman facility, marking a milestone in the maturation of RSL's development program since making the move to Utah.

Another recent milestone was a victory by RSL's reserve team, the Monarchs, over English Premier League club Chelsea's under-21 squad at Rio Tinto Stadium on July 19.

"It says a lot," Monarchs head coach and former RSL player Jamison Olave said after the match. "Real Salt Lake is a team that always wants to bring players from the academy to the first team; that's what we're trying to do. The personality, the courage that the guys had today, that says that RSL is working with the young guys."

Orozco captained the Monarchs against Chelsea, marking the first time the 18 year old has worn the armband in his pro career. Orozco and others see it as a turning point in the young player's career — from follower to leader.

"To see him grow into not just a great soccer player but into a leader, into a great person. To see him graduated from high school, to see him hug his mom at graduation," RSL assistant general manager and former player Tony Beltran said of Orozco. "It's just a genuine privilege to be associated with these boys as they pursue their dreams."

Beltran's primary responsibility as assistant general manager is to oversee the RSL Academy, which he says is "like having 50 children" of his own to care for and raise.

The 50 "children," as it were, range from the ages of 14-18 and live in on-campus dorms at the Herriman facility. The campus also includes a full public charter high school, an indoor training facility, outdoor training fields and Zions Bank Stadium, where the Monarchs play their home games.

The complex cost $78 million to construct and took its first class of students and players in 2018. The high school is open to non-soccer players, as well, and also sponsors a basketball team.

A typical day at the academy begins at 7 a.m. with a soccer practice, followed by a full day of school, and then ends with another soccer practice in the evening, Orozco said. The rest of the time is spent mostly hanging out in the dorms with his classmates and teammates.

"It takes away maybe part of that normal life as a teenager," Orozco said of life at the academy. "But once you start enjoying it, like, 'Oh, you're trying to do this when you grow up, this is gonna be your career,' you're like, 'Just go with it.'"

Christian Nydegger, a Highland native, graduated from the academy in Dec. 2021 and signed a professional contract with the Monarchs in May. He started and played the entire 90 minutes against the Chelsea U21 squad.

"I still get the chills talking about it," Nydegger said of signing his first contract. "It's a big moment for anyone's career: signing that first contract. Now it's a job."

Though the academy is most known for producing professional soccer players, that is not its sole developmental priority. Beltran said the academy has three "areas of excellence" that he repeats often to the students: academics, citizenship and football — in that order.

"We're a development club, and it's our responsibility with these boys in some very, very pivotal years of their lives to not just develop them as footballers but to develop them as young men," Beltran said. "Ready to enter the greater, grander world as well, within football or outside of football."

Whatever the order of priorities or areas of excellence at the academy, it is clearly working from a soccer standpoint, as well. RSL signed five new academy prospects to MLS contracts in January, bringing the club's total number of homegrown players to 32 — tying FC Dallas for the most homegrown products in the league.

During the 2021 season, RSL led MLS in homegrown minutes played, totaling 11,304 minutes and led by Herrera, Brody, Glad and Ochoa.

Beltran, along with the entire RSL community, believe Orozco could be the next rising star in a long line of academy success stories after the center back made his first MLS start at the ripe age of 17 in April.

"It was all the coaches," Orozco said, quickly deflecting praise for his sudden rise. "The coaches really helped me a lot to keep my confidence. From the Monarchs to MLS level, I think there was a huge gap through there. A lot of things I didn't know and now I know. It's been a long journey, but I'm trying to keep going."

Orozco's duty is with the Monarchs for now, as he expects to be the captain going forward while he waits for another opportunity with the first team. He was instrumental in the team's win against Chelsea and looks to help the team get another win in its final match of the MLS NEXT Pro Invitational on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium against Wolverhampton Wanderers FC U21 at 10:30 a.m. MDT.

Herrera and RSL play Saturday at Rio Tinto, as well, taking on FC Dallas at 8 p.m. MDT. The club looks to stay undefeated at home this season in MLS play.

Related topics