HERRIMAN, Utah – (Wednesday, November 20, 2019) – Real Monarchs SLC has named Jamison Olave as the club’s head coach after leading the team to its first-ever USL Championship Title last Sunday, the club announced today. Olave becomes the fifth head coach in team history after being named Interim Head Coach on two previous occasions in 2018 and 2019.
“We’re ecstatic to now have Jamison on as the official leader of our group,” Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations Rob Zarkos said. “His coaching pedigree and extensive knowledge of the game coupled with his success as a leader during the club’s Championship Title run makes him the right fit for the team and our overall development ladder. All of us in the organization have full faith that Jamison will execute growth initiatives of the club using the integration between Real Salt Lake and the RSL Academy while continuing the on-field success within the USL Championship.”
Olave took the reins of the Monarchs as Interim Head Coach on July 1, 2019, leading the team to a 10-4-5 (35 points) record during the last 19 matches of the 2019 regular season to enter the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Western Conference. The Colombian then led the Monarchs through an immaculate playoff run which culminated with the USL Championship Title where it topped reigning back-to-back champion Louisville City FC. Prior to the Championship Final, the Monarchs topped Orange County SC before knocking off top-seeded Phoenix Rising FC ahead of claiming the Western Conference crown over El Paso to book its ticket to the Final.
In his first stint as Interim Head Coach of the Monarchs, Olave led the team to an 11-12-2 (35 points) record across 25 regular season matches as the team finished as the fourth seed in the West before bowing out of the USL Championship Playoffs in the opening round.
“After two years of being an Assistant Coach and the Interim Head Coach, this feels really good,” Olave said. “Now we just need to keep working hard. We are going to continue to develop players within the Real Salt Lake organization from the RSL Academy all the way to RSL. We’re going to keep working like we did this year and put the team before everything.”
An RSL legend, Olave featured for RSL from 2008-2012 and 2015-16 to total 159 appearances during the regular season– 157 of which were starts. The rugged defender totaled 13,654 regular season minutes and scored 13 goals during his time with the Utah club and was named MLS Defender of the Year in 2010 and MLS Best XI in 2010 and 2011. He also played an integral role on the backline for RSL during the club’s 2009 MLS Cup championship run.
The club has also retained Assistant Coach Matt Glaeser for the 2020 season. Glaeser joined the club in early 2017 as an assistant and goalkeeper coach and played an instrumental role in the team’s 2017 Regular Season Title triumph and the club’s 2019 USL Championship Title-winning season.
Glaeser began his youth career at James Madison University and the University of Hartford where he earned the America East Conference Goalkeeper of the Year as well as the NSCAA Northeast Region Goalkeeper of the Year. In 2007, Glaeser helped lead the University of Hartford to an appearance in the America East Championship, having played every minute in goal allowing only 18 goals throughout the season.
Glaeser started his professional career with the Western Mass Pioneers in the USL second Division before signing with Finnish club Pallo-Iirot in 2009. He returned to the United States in 2010 playing for Miami FC before a small stint on loan with FC Tampa Bay and signed with USL Pro club Wilmington Hammerheads in 2014, as a player and as the Goalkeeper Coach and Community Development Coordinator while playing as an active player.
Additionally, the club has signed Mirza Harambasic as the Monarchs Goalkeeper Coach for the 2020 season. Harambasic spent the previous season as the goalkeeping coach with the RSL Academy.
Prior to his role with the RSL Academy he was the Head Coach and Goalkeeper Coach of Oakwood Soccer Club in Connecticut from 2016 to 2018 and the Assistant Coach at the University of Hartford from 2015 to 2018. A Bosnian native, Harambasic played college soccer in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he won All-Region as a goalkeeper at Davenport University.
