From Alta High to Burnley: Kealia Ohai Watt comes home to a soccer state

SANDY — The biggest winner on Wednesday night wasn’t Real Salt Lake; it was soccer in Utah.

Real Salt Lake defeated English Championship side Burnley 4-1 in a preseason friendly, but the evening’s more compelling story was in an owner’s box.

Long before Burnley arrived in Sandy, before the Utah Royals existed, before MLS academies became a pathway for local talent and before the FIFA World Cup came to North America, Kealia Ohai Watt was just another Utah kid chasing a soccer ball.

She grew up in Draper. She won four state championships at Alta High. She won an NCAA title at North Carolina, scored the winning goal in the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup final against Germany and spent eight seasons in the NWSL with Houston and Chicago.

These days, she has traded cleats for a microphone, co-hosting the new “Style of Play” podcast, alongside fellow former U.S. international Julie Ertz, where the pair discuss soccer, motherhood, and life after the game.

She has also taken on another role few could have imagined during her Alta days: minority owner of Burnley Football Club alongside her husband, former NFL player J.J. Watt.

Wednesday brought all of those chapters together.

“I, obviously, fell in love with the game here,” Watt said. “I won my high school championship on this field. Just the most amazing memories.”

The Watts brought their young son to America First Field to watch Burnley play, turning what might have been just another preseason stop into something much more personal.

“It’s just so special,” she said. “Every time I bring J.J. back, it’s just amazing.”

For Watt, the biggest change isn’t Burnley’s ownership structure or Utah hosting English clubs.

It’s Utah itself.

“I’ve been rooting for soccer in Utah for so long because I think it’s a soccer state,” she said. “I fell in love with the game here.”

When Watt was growing up, there wasn’t a professional women’s team to aspire to. There were no Utah Royals. No local professional pathway for girls beyond dreaming about college or the national team.

“Growing up, we didn’t have a women’s team, and that was really hard,” she said. “We would obviously watch Real Salt Lake. I’m just proud that my state has a women’s team and a place for young girls to be able to look up to people and be able to play.”

“If a 14-year-old freshman came up to you tonight and asked whether Utah is a good place to kickstart a soccer career, what would you tell her?” she was asked.

“Absolutely,” Watt answered without hesitation.

“This program (the Utah Royals) and the head coach they have right now, Jimmy Coenraets, are doing such an incredible job. A lot of big talent comes out of Utah, and to be able to be recruited to a club right here is so important.”

The World Cup, currently winding down in North America, has only strengthened that feeling.

“It’s been huge,” Watt said. “I think for both the men’s game and the women’s game.”

She hopes the momentum carries directly into next summer’s Women’s World Cup.

“It’s been so much fun,” she said. “The first day there were no games, we were so sad because we’ve had that on the entire summer.”

While Kealia reflected on Utah’s soccer growth, J.J. explained why Burnley felt like the right club for them to invest in.

“Burnley is a small, hardworking, blue-collar town,” he said. “We felt a kinship there.”

The parallels with Utah weren’t lost on either of them.

“Every time J.J. comes here, he can’t believe how beautiful it is, how clean it is and how nice the people are,” Kealia said. “I’m just proud of Utah as a state.”

When Burnley announced it was coming to Utah, there was never any question where the Watts would be.

“We have to be there,” she said. “We have to bring my family out.”

She paused for a moment before summing up exactly why.

“I’m a proud Utahan.”

Chatting with fellow soccer obsessives

As excited as I always am for a match at America First Field, Wednesday started a little differently.

Instead of heading for the press box, I climbed up to the camera platform to spend a few minutes with Burnley minority owners Kealia Ohai Watt and J.J. Watt.

I expected to talk about Burnley.

Instead, we ended up talking about Utah.

Kealia, who won four state championships at Alta before lifting a U-20 World Cup and starring in the NWSL, spoke about coming home to a state that finally has the professional opportunities she never had growing up. J.J. talked about why Burnley felt like a natural fit for them, and why they believe soccer’s future in America is only getting brighter.

They struck me as genuinely invested owners who care about growing the game, not just in England, but here in the United States, and who love Utah nearly as much as I do.

Oh, and RSL went out and beat Burnley 4-1.