When Real Salt Lake launched Real Monarchs in 2015, the intention was to have a place for players to develop into first-team caliber players. In just the club’s second season, that was on the forefront as the USL club not only had three players climb the ladder to MLS, but a coach as well.
It started at the beginning of the year when former Monarchs forward Emery Welshman signed with RSL after finishing with six goals and two assists with the Monarchs in 2015, although injuries prevented him from appearing for the first team.
Ricardo Velazco and Chris Schuler would follow on different paths during the 2016 season. Velazco earned the call-up after two standout seasons in different roles for the Monarchs. First, he played as a No. 10, posting two goals and four assists in 2015. This season, though, he moved out to the wing and was the club’s leading scorer with eight goals and six assists in 27 matches. His signing to the MLS club made him the first player to follow the path from the RSL Academy to the Monarch to Real Salt Lake.
Next was Schuler, who suffered an injury-ravaged season in 2015 and needed the opportunity to play and prove himself during his recovery. He found a home for that with the Monarchs and after establishing himself over 10 appearances, earned a spot back with the first team and started in three matches in the regular season and a fourth in the playoffs for RSL.
Last, Monarchs Head Coach Freddy Juarez made the move to RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s coaching staff after leading the USL club for two seasons. With his close relationship with so many young players through his time coaching at the Academy level, he already has a good connection to key contributors for RSL and adds a new dimension to the first team coaching staff for the 2017 season to come.
Stay tuned to RSL.com for the next two weeks as we count down the Top 10 stories of 2016.
