Real Monarchs Name Martin Vasquez As Head Coach

HERRIMAN, Utah – Real Salt Lake announced the appointment of Martin Vasquez as the head coach of Real Monarchs SLC ahead of their fifth season in the USL Championship.

The club also announced that they will retain interim coach Jamison Olave as an assistant coach and also goalkeeper coach Matt Glaeser. They have hired Kyle ‘Simi’ Simkovich as the club’s athletic trainer with Marshall Stoddard moving to FC Cincinnati for it’s inaugural season in Major League Soccer.

“This fits really well with the progression of young players in our organization and our philosophy of promoting from within,” RSL General Manager Craig Waibel said. “Martín’s resume speaks for itself and he brings a tremendous amount of experience at top levels to the Monarchs to aid in the progression of the players within our organization from the Academy on up to RSL. With all of the youth we have in our organization, this was the right time to promote him to the Monarchs.”

Vasquez retired as a player in 1999, his coaching career has included stints with the LA Galaxy, Chivas USA, Bayern Munich and the U.S. Men’s National Team. He was an assistant coach at each stop until he was named the head coach with Chivas USA for the 2010 season. After parting ways with the now-defunct MLS club, he didn’t seek another coaching position immediately in MLS. Vasquez opted to coach at the youth level.

He joined the RSL Academy in 2011 and has been a critical part of the success of the young talent that includes current Mexican National Team defender Carlos Salcedo, Danilo Acosta, Justin Glad, Brooks Lennon, Aaron Herrera and Sebastian Saucedo.

“I’m very grateful for such and amazing opportunity to join the Monarchs after eight years with the RSL Academy,” Vasquez said. “My time with the players within the RSL Academy both past and present has helped me immensely. The players’ attitudes, enthusiasm and willingness to not only better themselves as players and men, but to help me grow as a coach has been an integral part of my time as coach and is something I will forever be thankful for. It has been a privilege to be a part of such an incredible Academy side. Now with the Monarchs I’m excited to continue to be a part of the development of our players and our club as the head coach. I’m here to win with the Monarchs while continuing to help develop our players and help them reach the next level.”

Born in Yahualica, Mexico, Vasquez is one of only two players to play for the United States and Mexico internationally and knows the soccer landscape in America better than most. His professional career included stops in the U.S. and Liga MX leagues from 1984 to 1999, appearing in over 350 matches, scoring 31 goals in his career.

“We as club couldn’t be more excited to bring Martín in as the Monarch’s newest head coach,” Real Monarchs General Manager Dan Egner said. “He’s coached at the highest levels at the club level and internationally. He knows the players on our first team, in the USL and in our Academy better than anyone. We view this as the perfect opportunity to continue winning at the USL level, while developing players that can contribute to RSL. He’s done exactly that every step of the way at the Academy. This is such an incredible time for the Monarchs and we can’t wait to get 2019 underway.”

RSL will now begin to search globally for a new Academy Director.

Real Monarchs SLC will face Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday, March 9 to open its USL Championship campaign. The Monarchs will then return home the following weekend to host league newcomer El Paso Locomotive FC at Zions Bank Stadium on March 16, a venue in which the Monarchs earned a league-best home record of 13-2-2 in 2018.

A new era

Martín Vasquez has been appointed head coach of Real Monarchs SLC

Details 📰 https://t.co/0p9SvwYVwI pic.twitter.com/GpVGTO6wCn

— Real Monarchs (@RealMonarchs) January 21, 2019