In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Real Salt Lake is spotlighting the importance of mental well-being both on and off the field. As part of the club’s ongoing commitment to supporting mental health, players and coaches opened up about the practices and routines they rely on to "fill their cup"—whether it's spending time with family, diving into a hobby, or simply taking a quiet moment for themselves.
By sharing their personal strategies, the RSL family hopes to encourage fans and the wider community to prioritize their own mental health and explore what helps them recharge. These insights come directly from the players and coaches themselves, offering a personal glimpse into the ways they care for their mental well-being.
Rafael Cabral
“For me, I hangout with my family, my wife and my kids. I’ve got two kids, Manuel and Luca. They’re 8 years old and 6 years old and I just play with them all day. We play soccer, tennis, ride a bike on the street, and read the bible as well.”
Kobi Henry
“I don’t know me personally. I think to watch like Kyrie Irving mentality videos, He has it figured out. Also Relentless is about Kobe Bryant's journey and it is great. I like basketball just cause the mentality is good like they got it figured out over there. ”
Kobi’s favorite Books: Atomic Habits; Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins; Can’t Hurt Me - David Goggins; Ik Igai - Japanese book about the meaning behind life
Brayan Vera
“I like to play Video Games, playstation, and watch movies. I play Fifa, call of duty, and Formula 1. My favorite movies are action movies, comedies, thrillers. I also enjoy listening to Salsa and reggaeton.”
Braian Ojeda
“I Spend time with family and listen to relaxing music. I listen to a little bit of everything. To relax I like, “alabanzas” (christian praise music, I think) and I also listen to reggaeton. My family and I also have a lake close to home and we go out to walk a little and look at the mountains.”
Pablo Ruiz
“I enjoy drinking Mate and hanging out with my kids.”
Diego Luna
“I read and do therapy, I take notes and I like to listen to music.”
Diego's favorite book: Unfuk Yourself*
Diego's favorite artist: Fora
Diogo Gonçalves
“I have a Playstation 5 and like to play Call of Duty with my friends from Portugal.”
Dominik Marczuk
“I really enjoy reading and listening to music. I also like to meditate.”
Dom’s favorite book: The Polish Athlete Mentality
Matthew Bell
“I'll just say like, playing video games with my friends from back home, it keeps me distracted from what's going on in my life and it's just fun. My favorite game is Call of Duty. I'm not very good, but it's just fun playing with my friends from when I was a kid.”
Nelson Palacio
“I talk to my parents, and with my family. I was recommended a book called “Inquebrantable”. It’s by Daniel Habif. And now I’m starting to love it. Reading helps to distract me and keeps me calm. I play a lot of video games with my friends that I have in Colombia. We play Fifa, Call of Duty, GTA, yes a little bit of everything.”
Emeka Eneli
“I think rest is important so I try to get lots of sleep, and I journal.”
Justen Glad
”When my mental health is not in good condition I like to go outside. I like to be outdoors and go on hikes and hang out with my dog.”
Tyler Wolff
“Honestly, just being outside and playing golf and getting away from the game of soccer, it helps me mentally off the field. I like to listen to music, my favorites are The Weeknd and Drake.”
Lachlan Brook
I like going on nature walks. I just like to listen to music and go out in nature. I have a playlist on my Spotify, with artists like Stephen Sanchez, Royel Otis, Spacey Jane. I’ve also gotten into reading, right now I’m reading a book called “The Secret”. It's about the law of attraction and it has changed my life.”
Bode Hidalgo
“I like to listen to music. Rod Wave is probably a favorite. I also like to play Fortnite to take my mind off soccer.”
Ariath Piol
“The show, The Blacklist on Netflix is my favorite and I read the Bible. That’s it just the Bible and Blacklist.”
Max Kerkvilet
“I think for me to get right mentally, I like to hang out with my friends, family and my dog and kind of just step away from soccer.”
William Agada
“I would say I like to hike. Now that I am in Utah I want to go out to the mountains and take a look. I want to start climbing them.”
Philip Quinton
“I like to read, big reader. I read a little bit of everything like half nonfiction and half fiction. I usually alternate. But kind of just whatever I read most recently is my favorite so right now it's, The Nickle Boys by Colson Whitehead. I like to listen to music and podcasts too. My favorite podcasts are anything from “The Economist” or “The Athletic” ; those are my two go to’s.”
Phil's favorite bookstore: Kings English Book Store
Sam Junqua
”I like the podcast On Purpose by Jay Shetty. He's really good and he's got a very easy to listen to voice, so it's very easy to listen to that podcast. But he always has a lot of good stuff. It's just like health and wellness on a podcast. Sometimes I like to go on a walk or just kind of do chores around the house. I also like meditation and journaling.”
Mason Stajduhar
“I really enjoy doing things with my wife. Anything with her is what I like to do to step away from soccer and unwind.”
Zack Farnsworth
“I read my bible, I get outside in nature, up in the mountains where we’re blessed to live in a place like this and just get some sun, spend some time with family and friends. It lets me disconnect and show my love to others and receive love from others is like a big thing.”
Zacks favorite Podcast: Bussin with the boys
Tommy Silva
“The biggest book I have for mental health is just the Bible. I read the bible every day, especially the New Testament because I think God is the source of joy and love and when you focus on that, that’s where you can radiate love from.”
Jesús Barea
“I really like reggaeton music and I’m reading various books. I’m reading a book called, “How to be Relentless” and it is great. I also like to walk in the morning when the weather's nice and then I meditate at night time and that helps to keep my mind clear.”
Zavier Gozo
“I talk to my mom and I like music. Frank Ocean, Drake and Chris Brown are my favorites.”
Johnny Russell
“I like to go and play golf. It gets me out in the fresh air. You spend a couple hours just out and outside and playing golf. It's definitely one thing I use to get out of my head.”
Noel Caliskan
“I really enjoy getting out in nature. I like to go on hikes and just be outside and step away from soccer.”
Alex Katranis
“ Once a week I meet with Tom who is our therapist at RSL and then once a month I meet with a therapist from Greece like on a Zoom call. I have found that it feels better to talk to someone.”
Coach Pablo Mastroeni
“I do a daily twenty minute meditation session to start the day. I journal and I read.
Coach Pablos favorite book: Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer
Coach Nate Miller
“ I like being outside and going on hikes, we hike as a family. I play outside with my kids. I rock climb, I run and like to get a lot of vitamin D and sunshine. I finish every day by reading about 20 to 40 minutes. I'm reading a lot of biographies right now.”
Coach Jamison Olave
“I just work out every day. That's the first thing I do in the morning. I do meditation, which I just started doing recently. I just like podcasts too. Just any on the health and wellness side.”
Coach Anthonly Pulis
“I exercise every morning and then I read and like podcasts. I read a bunch of different books, a lot of leadership books and then there are a few good podcasts that I listen to while I’m in the gym. “High Performance” is one. That’s probably the main one that I listen to that I would recommend. Listening to podcasts while exercising are kind of killing two birds with one stone. On days off I try and take a hike with the family and be outside as much as possible.”
Coach Joel Delass
“I just ride my bike. I get out on the road and get lost in my thoughts and ride. I go about 6 days a week in the morning.”
Coach Mirza Harambasic
“I would probably say, spending time with my young daughters. We go outside and to a park. We do some bedtime reading as well, any quality time spent with them helps get away from it.”
