Under floodlights and a late-July moon, 17-year-old **Gavin Beavers**’ jet-black cleats stood atop the goal-line of the south goal at America First Field. Dead ahead of him is the sight every goalkeeper grows accustomed to, an opposing player lined up to the penalty spot 12 yards away with every intention of firing the ball past him.
Real Monarchs and Chelsea FC’s inaugural meeting had just ended tied 2-2 in regular time. A tightly contested match with a result that hung in the balance of a pressure packed penalty shootout shortly to follow.
To begin the shootout, the player facing off against Beavers was Chelsea FC Academy product Ben Elliot, who scored against him earlier in the match.
The referee blows his whistle, and the London born Elliot trots toward the spot, smashing the ball left and low through the Utah night air. Just as the ball is struck, Beavers’ feet leave the goaline and his body timbers down to the left, with an arm branching as far as it’ll stretch. Within a millisecond the ball clatters off his glove, deflecting far past the post. Saved. A quick fistpump in celebration before it’s all reigned back in.
Walking from the goal line to the spot he was just staring down, the perspective changes.
First up in the shootout for the Monarchs, it’s Beavers. As unnatural as it may seem for a goalkeeper to take the first kick of a shootout, it seems to come just as naturally for the teenager from Henderson, Nevada.
A quick no-nonsense run up, a flash of black leather, the ball flying past the goaline. In a matter of minutes, Beavers both saved and scored a goal to put the Monarchs in the driver’s seat for the rest of the shootout. They’d go on to win 5-4 and at the center of it all was the young Homegrown goalkeeper, Gavin Beavers.
A star wasn’t just born in Sandy that night, it was launched into the stratosphere.
This Is On The Rise: Gavin Beavers - Presented by Mountainland Supply.
2022 Recap
Back at Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, Utah, a sheepish grin spreads across Beaver’s face.
“How often do I practice taking penalties? Really it’s just me and the boys messing around before training or after training,” Beavers said. “Sometimes before gameday we’ll go through everybody and then I'll take it at the end, but I always make it so against Chelsea they were like, oh yeah, we'll just throw 'em up first.”
His confident but laid back personality shines through when you speak to him about what he’s learned over the past year.
The same player who’s become one of the crown jewels of the RSL Academy is also the player who had fellow Homegrown **Bode Hidalgo** sign off to be his legal guardian. Ask him about it, and the smile that appears when talking about the Chelsea match only grows wider.
“I was moving out of the Academy and I wasn't gonna move back in, but then they told me, I couldn’t move in anywhere else unless I had a guardian,” said Beavers. “So I was like, Bode, can you sign this paper so I could live here? That's how he became my legal guardian for a little bit while I lived with him.”
Watching Beavers on the field it can be hard to remember he’s only seventeen, speaking to him off of it, he reminds you of the youthful exuberance that makes his personality so infectious.
Unlike most 17-year-olds, Beavers is growing up in front of the world. Shortly after signing his first professional contract with Real Monarchs, Beavers made history. At the age of 16 he became the youngest goalkeeper to appear in an USL Championship match at the time. He’d make two appearances for the Monarchs before signing a Homegrown contract with Real Salt Lake last off-season.
His first full season with the Monarchs last year provided the challenges needed to both test and grow a young goalkeeper.
“We definitely didn't get off to the hottest start last season, me neither personally,” Beavers said.
“So, it was just about growing into the season and learning. Everything's a learning moment. Once we got to the Chelsea game our season turned around. Just being able to keep my head up, keep playing, and learn. That's the biggest thing, always learning and just getting minutes.”
Those learning moments came throughout the season as Beavers ended the Monarchs’ season starting in 15 games, making 40 saves and keeping three clean sheets. The Monarchs finished the season especially strong towards the end, winning three of their last four games.
Under the tutelage of Monarchs goalkeeper coach Mirza Harambasic, Beavers’ individual growth continued as well. While his shot stopping ability has been known from the beginning, he’s also been hard at work adapting to the modern game.
“I feel like my feet have gotten a lot better over the last year,” said Beavers.
”That's been one thing that I’ve been trying to work on and get better at. Everybody needs to play with their feet these days. That's probably been my biggest improvement.”
For his efforts, Beavers earned multiple call ups to the U-19 U.S. Youth National Team throughout the season and his potential began to shine through on the international stage.
As his stock continues to rise deep into this off-season, all focus shifts to 2023.
2023 Outlook
Leaning back in his chair in the Real Monarch offices, Harambasic glows while speaking of his offseason trip to London with Beavers and RSL Academy keeper Fernando Delgado. The goalkeeping coach accompanied the two youngsters as they traveled to train with Premier League outfit Crystal Palace this winter.
“I felt like a proud father,” Harambasic said. “For both Gavin and Fernando, when you're here in the United States and you talk about these big leagues like the Bundesliga, Premier League, Serie A or Ligue 1, it feels so far away.
However when we were in London with Gavin and Fernando and you watched them both doing extremely well it was like, wow, these big goals are attainable. So it just provides more motivation for the boys to push forward. It certainly wasn't a tourist trip or anything. The boys were in there, they competed, they showed their value and I’m really, really, really proud of 'em.”
After returning from England in January, Beavers was right back on a plane to meet up with the U-19 U.S. Youth National Team for his fourth-consecutive call up. Then it was straight back into training with the first team as the Club prepares for the 2023 MLS season.
Beavers appeared in the first preseason matchup against defending champions LAFC for 45 minutes, keeping a shutout and making a pair of impressive saves. The potential he flashed last season already beginning to shine even brighter.
“That's the funny thing about Gavin, wherever you set the bar, he always seems to go higher,” Harambasic said.
“He's got an unbelievable future and can be at the highest level of the game. I think he's gonna continue to progress and show his worth going forward.”
