Real Salt Lake Academy adds Nick Rimando and others to coaching staff

HERRIMAN, Utah – Real Salt Lake and the RSL Academy announced that the club has hired Nick Rimando, Andrew May, Jamie McGregor and Ronny Charry as coaches for the club’s youth development academy.

“It is with great pride that the Club welcomes Nick to his new role within the organization,” RSL Assistant General Manager Tony Beltran said. “The name Nick Rimando is synonymous with Real Salt Lake, and now, our academy boys will have the opportunity to learn from one of Major League Soccer’s greatest players. Both on the field and beyond, we look forward to all future collaboration with Nick, as we together strive to lead and inspire the soccer culture in Utah.”

Rimando – Major League Soccer’s all-time leader in games played, wins, saves and shutouts – will join the club as a goalkeeping coach for the RSL Academy and will serve as an official club ambassador, participating in community outreach, partnership and ticketing initiatives for the club during the 2021 season.

In his on-field role, Rimando will work directly in collaboration with coaching and technical staffs from the RSL Academy, Real Monarchs and RSL, and report directly to RSL Academy Director of Coaching Arnold Rijsenburg to aid in the development of the academy goalkeeper’s technical on-field initiatives and philosophies.

“I’m excited to join the RSL Academy staff to help develop and mentor these young men. Every player has their own journey, and I am looking forward to using my experience to guide and help them reach their goals,” Rimando said. “RSL has been a big part of my life on and off the field. After taking some time off and seeing the direction of the club I’m thrilled to join RSL in an ambassador role. I’m excited to bring that buzz back to RSL Nation and to connect with our fans and build a strong relationship with all of our communities.”

In addition to Rimando, Rijsenburg has named Andrew May as an academy head coach. May joins the RSL Academy from the club’s elite satellite program at RSL-Arizona where he led the RSL-AZ U-15 and U-9 boys as the group director for those age groups. Prior to his time with RSL-AZ, May spent 2016-2019 as the LA Galaxy development academy head coach as well as holding the same position within the Chivas USA program from 2012-2015.

McGregor and Charry both join the RSL Academy as assistant coaches having previously worked with the club’s Youth Development Academy where both spent significant time coaching pre-academy aged players and helped to extensively identify possible additions to the RSL Academy.

Chris Gores enters his third season with the RSL Academy and in 2021 will serve as the Director of Recruitment for the academy as well as a head coach. Gores joined RSL in 2019 by way of the University of Washington, where he served as an assistant coach under Jamie Clark since 2014.  He helped lead the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament in four of his five seasons.  Previously, he served as an assistant coach at Florida Gulf Coast University and Harvard University.

The RSL Academy support staff has also introduced new faces for the 2021 season as assistant Athletic Trainer Luke Cantin and Head of Academy Strength and Conditioning Connor Gorny each join Head Athletic Trainer Christine Center on the Academy staff. RSL Academy Team Administrator Creighton Atkin returns for his third season with the academy as the academy’s longest tenured member and welcomes his brother Colton Atkin as the assistant team administrator. Somer Rogers joins the academy as its Wellness Manager for the 2021 season.

Real Salt Lake has signed 24 Academy products to first-team contracts, including 11 on the current roster. Among those who have signed, goalkeeper David Ochoa who has seen time with the U.S. Men’s National Team and its U-20 and U-23 squads, while Justen Glad and Aaron Herrera have also been called into U.S. camps and Carlos Salcedo has been a mainstay for the Mexican National Team. In total, 57 products of the RSL Academy have signed professional contracts.