The Real Monarchs are now days away from the club’s inaugural home match and just two matches into the first season for the newly-minted USL club. Yet already the club is being praised for its potential to develop young players under Real Salt Lake’s purview.
It’s even got players for Real Salt Lake wide-eyed at the opportunities ahead for young players that will take the field for the Monarchs on Wednesday night for the first home match in club history at Rio Tinto Stadium against Portland Timbers 2.
“The opportunity is huge,” Tony Beltran said while making a guest appearance on On Frame on ESPN 700 recently. “There’s no denying it. It’s absolutely huge.”
The institution of USL affiliates for eight MLS teams this season, the system for youth development is growing more and more to mimic the systems that have been perfected in Europe through the years. Soon, the days will be gone when young players are either put to trial by fire on the field for MLS teams or left to rot on the bench. Instead, they can continue to train with MLS clubs while getting meaningful game minutes with the club’s affiliates while still getting the instant feedback from MLS clubs since the USL teams will operate right in their backyards.
RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman is a product of the U.S. Youth system at its highest level, playing with the U.S. U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida, its infancy. At the time, that was a colossal step forward for youth development because it gave the best players from around the country the opportunity to train every day with players of similar talents.
The U.S. has long been competitive with the top countries in the world at the youth level, but then would fall off at the U-20 level and beyond. Continuing to bridge that gap, Beckerman said, will mean wonders for player development.
“You’re grooming these kids to come in and be first-teamers. They’re idolizing guys and seeing them there in practice and seeing the way they act,” Beckerman said in a recent interview with the Bill & OC Show on ESPN 700. “It’s such a professional environment at such an early age and now they’re training at a higher level every day.”
What will help the Monarchs is that the RSL-Arizona Academy has been pumping out pro-level talent for years. Now with more options for those players, they don’t just have to decide between playing MLS or college, but also developing at the USL level along the way. Given that extra opportunity to play and harvest their skills will be mutually beneficial to the players and RSL.
That they are already playing at a high level because of the success of the Academy only serves to expedite that process quicker.
“I think this is a perfect place and gives you a really good platform to show that you deserve to be in the 18 or with the first team. It’s a way to get some fitness when you’re coming back from injury,” Beckerman said. “Those are the games you have to perform. That’s your time you’re getting to play and it’s your chance to show the coaches game-time minutes.”
RSL currently has six players on its roster that developed in the Casa Grande, Ariz.,-based Academy, including Jordan Allen, who scored the game-winning goal against Toronto FC in the third match of the season. With three more playing for the Monarchs, the talent pool is rich and justifies optimism surrounding the team.
“For 17 and 18, they are hands-down incredible. It’s an exciting time now for RSL, but I think 5-6 years from now is going to be very, very exciting if we can keep these guys together because they are tremendously talented,” Beltran said. “To be completely honest they do things at 17 that I wasn’t able to do. They see the game faster and in a way that I wasn’t able to develop until later because I didn’t have those games under my belt. Now having them play with the Monarchs and the fact that they’re going to play 20-plus games a year – it’s huge. They’re going to develop quicker and stay in a system longer. I think it’s fantastic that the Monarchs are here and it’s going to be great for those guys.”
Kickoff in Wednesday’s match is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT. Tickets are available by visiting www.realmonarchs.com.
