Craig and Rob are extraordinarily bright, successful individuals, now empowered to permeate their winning, responsible track records throughout the club. – RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen said.
SANDY — Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen has promoted Craig Waibel to RSL general manager and Rob Zarkos as the RSL vice president of soccer administration, according to a team news release.
“Craig and Rob are extraordinarily bright, successful individuals, now empowered to permeate their winning, responsible track records throughout the club,” Hansen said. “By bolstering the human resources on the soccer side, Waibel, Zarkos and many others will provide the energy and vision needed to further evolve this club forward.”
Before his involvement in coaching and managing, Waibel was an MSL defender for 12 years. Waibel won a U.S. Open Cup championship with the L.A. Galaxy in 2001 along with four MLS Cup titles. After retiring from the MLS in 2010, the Spokane, Washington, native took an assistant coaching position at the University of Michigan before coaching two seasons at the University of Washington. Waibel then made the move to Utah for an assistant coaching position with Real Salt Lake in 2014 before taking a position as the club’s technical director last December.
“I’m very appreciative of the communication and responsibility that Mr. Hansen is willing to invest in the entire Real Salt Lake soccer hierarchy,” said Waibel. “Expanding the opportunity and ability on the team side to compete in the MLS arms race requires short-term expertise and long-term planning. I am very confident RSL fans will be rewarded.”
Zarkos was appointed the president of the USL Real Monarchs last September. Prior to his Monarchs position, Zarkos spent five years working for Hansen as vice president of operations in the Wasatch company’s real estate side. Zarkos’ legal and operational expertise will be beneficial for the MSL’s compliance guidelines and the club’s strategic competitive investments, according to the news release.
“We will live up to our motto ‘RSL As One’ as we forge ahead to build a fully integrated organization,” said Zarkos. “With improved communication and sharing greater responsibilities across the club, our team-oriented approach is expected to pay massive dividends for the sport at all levels in the great state of Utah and across the region.”
RSL assistant general manager Elliot Fall, who will be responsible for integrating the first team’s needs with player development with the Monarchs, Arizona academy and Utah youth teams, joins Waibel and Zarkos. Fall has been a member of the organization since 2007, working in the club’s marketing and communication departments and as team administrator.