I drive around my neighborhood and I see a lot kids wearing Real stuff, and five years ago, we didn’t see that. – Marc Edwards
SANDY — There’s a new sports team in town, and Utahns are ready to embrace it.
Utah’s soccer culture has thrived over the last decade, thanks in large part to Real Salt Lake. On Wednesday night, the RSL minor-league affiliate Real Monarchs played their inaugural match at Rio Tinto Stadium against the Portland Timbers 2, a match that ended in a 1-1 draw.
Despite the cold and rainy conditions, many fans turned out to the RioT to catch the first game of Utah’s newest sports team.
With the Real Monarchs here, Utahns are excited to embrace a new team as a part of the Utah sports community all while continuing the growth of the state’s soccer culture.
“It’s awesome,” said Marc Edwards of Layton. “I think it’s fabulous just based on the fact that we are going to have a younger generation of soccer players here in Utah.”
“I’m really excited,” said Corey Preston of Santaquin. “My 7-year-old enjoys soccer in our local clubs there in town, and he’s been up here for Real games a couple of times. I’ve never been to the stadium, so just the opportunity to have another (soccer team) in town is really exciting for me.”
For Jeremy Berg and the Berg family of Sandy, catching the inaugural Real Monarchs match was something the family wanted to be a part.
“We love soccer. We love RSL games, and we knew it would be a good product in the field, so we wanted to check it out,” said Jeremy.
The Berg’s two young children played soccer in Florida, and when the family moved to Utah last year, they noticed how Utahns’ participation in soccer is impressive.
“When we moved here last June, it’s way more involved (in Utah) than it was in Florida,” Berg said.
The Berg’s children have participated in RSL’s halftime show and also walked out on the pitch in RSL’s last home game against Toronto FC.
Many families with young children attended the Monarchs' match, which is not surprising. Utah has seen a tremendous growth in youth soccer popularity and participation. Since 2009, Utah has seen youth participation in soccer has grown 10 percent every year, rising from 36,000 to 53,000, according to a BYU report last fall.
It’s no surprise that the number of youth soccer participation and soccer popularity in Utah began to grow further in 2009. That was the year Real Salt Lake won the MLS Cup.
“I drive around my neighborhood and I see a lot kids wearing Real stuff, and five years ago, we didn’t see that,” said Edwards.
Preston, as well as other fans, expressed how happy the Monarchs will continue to help grow “the beautiful game” in Utah all while teaching children the importance of staying healthy and teamwork.
“I love it simply for the fact that it’s one of the sports that you have to be a true athlete because you have to run for 90 minutes,” Preston said. “And then on top of that, you got the opportunity for a kid to have a sport where he can truly be a team player.”
For the Berg family, they hope Real Monarchs grows its identity among fans and not just be seen as RSL’s little brother: “Even though it’s part of RSL, it’s kind of a different thing," Berg said.
Monarch supporters are also excited about the potential of having a new stadium exclusively for the Monarchs.
“I think it’d be great to have a venue downtown, especially since I work downtown,” Berg said.
“For the state, it’s awesome seeing (RSL owner) Dell Loy (Hansen) put in all of this money into facilities,” said Edward. “I’m excited for the future of soccer in Utah.”
Xoel CÀrdenas, MA, is a writer with Deseret News: Sports. Xoel is also a FC Barcelona columnist at SB Nation and a contributor to Fox Deportes. Follow him on Twitter @XoelCardenas.