Justen Glad may be well into his second professional season with Real Salt Lake, but he still has the wonderment and enthusiasm of someone in his first MLS match every time he walks out of the tunnel at Rio Tinto Stadium.
He has distinct memories of his first time taking the field at home in an RSL uniform and today will carry those memories on the field with some of the other young stars of the league in the Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game, as a team of Homegrown standouts takes on the Club America U-20s at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park at 7 p.m. MT.
“The pitch was amazing. The crowd was amazing. The atmosphere was amazing. There’s nothing like it,” Glad beamed. “You can’t really put in words how good it feels to step on the field for the first time. When they announce your name and everyone’s yelling your last name … I can die now.”
The 18-year-old defender leaves that bewilderment on the sideline once the whistle blows, though, and he has established himself as one of the better young defenders in MLS right now.
This year has been an interesting one already for Glad too.
Last year, he didn’t appear in any league matches for RSL and was limited in what he could do late in the season because of injuries. Now healthy, he has been fighting for playing time and even took part in the U.S. U-18 National Team’s camp in Bosnia, where the team played three matches in six days. In between all that, he also scored the first home goal in Real Monarchs franchise history while on loan to the Salt Lake-based USL club.
Now with four starts under his belt with Real Salt Lake in MLS play and one more in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Even with that experience, he was not expecting to be included on Head Coach Landon Donovan’s squad for Tuesday’s match.
“I’m kind of surprised, but honored. It’s a good feeling being called in for the Homegrown game,” Glad said. “It’s something I’ve bene working towards and it’s a good feeling to get the call-up.”
Like his 21 teammates on the Homegrown roster, Glad took a different type of path to the professional ranks than has been customary in American sports over the years. By signing with the RSL-Arizona Academy in 2012, he committed to a path that had not only a professional opportunity at the end of the road, but a very specific opportunity with one club.
While in Casa Grande, Arizona, he dreamed of one day suiting up for the parent club with Real Salt Lake. Each preseason when RSL would come down to train in Arizona, that dream seemed a bit closer to reality. Finally, last year, he signed with the first team and this year that dream has been fully realized.
“It’s always cool when the pro team would come down for preseason. To be here a few years later, it’s surreal,” Glad said. “You go to the games and you think to yourself, ‘What would I do to be on that field?’ Next thing you know, you’re on the field playing. It’s a path that you’re grateful for.”
Tuesday night’s match kicks off at 7 p.m. MT and can be seen live on MLSsoccer.com.
