‘He represents a lot of Utahns’: Utah native Zach Booth makes first hometown start for Real Salt Lake

Zach Booth grew up watching Real Salt Lake’s Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Nick Rimando and Fabian Espindola. The young Booth would wait around after games, trying to get the players’ autographs.

Now, Booth is the one playing on the pitch for Real Salt Lake and giving autographs.

The Eden, Utah, native made his first home start for RSL in the club’s 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday.

When the public announcer announced Booth’s name in RSL’s starting lineup, it was a “full circle” moment, his mother, Kelli Booth, told the Deseret News, saying the Booth family has “been RSL groupies for a long time.”

“That was a really cool moment to see it come full circle and to think that little boy that used to wait around for autographs and players, now really, the experience for him, he’s on the opposite side of that,” she said.

Zach Booth’s journey to starting for Real Salt Lake

As she watched her son play for the same team the family grew up cheering for, Kelli Booth’s thoughts turned to the people who helped her son’s dream become a reality.

“I thought all those people that drove him to practice. He owes a lot to his grandma and grandpa and his dad and his friends’ moms and parents,” she said.

Soccer was a way to keep her sons busy when they were young, she said, “because you want them to stay out of trouble.” On Saturday, she spotted two fans in the section to her left wearing her son’s name on the back of their jerseys.

“Then you have moments like this that you only had dreamed about and you almost don’t dare to dream it, and here we are,” she said.

Zach Booth grew up playing for Utah’s La Roca Futbol Club and later the Real Salt Lake Academy for two seasons. Saturday felt like a soccer family reunion for the Booths with their phones blowing up with messages of support, and several family, friends, former coaches and neighbors made the trek to America First Field for the game.

“It’s been a dream to have him come back and play with his home club. He came up through the Real systems, so he’s made for this. We’re excited to have him back here,” his father Chad Booth said.

When he was 16, Zach Booth moved to England to join Leicester City Football Club’s academy. He has spent the last five years playing in Europe, where his parents would travel to watch him and his older brother, Taylor Booth, play.

In January, Zach Booth joined RSL on loan from Excelsior Rotterdam in the Netherlands’ Eredivisie. He started in RSL’s season opener in Vancouver, a 1-0 loss to the Whitecaps.

“It’s a dream come true for us. We love this. It’s easier than flying 10 hours over to Europe to watch him play,” Chad Booth said.

He added that RSL is a “perfect fit for” his son, who played 72 minutes Saturday before being subbed off.

The Booths: A couple of lifelong RSL fans

Zach Booth’s wife, Kate Booth, also grew up an RSL fan. Her grandfather Dean Howes was a former chief executive for the team.

“Growing up being an RSL fan, my Grandpa Dean had a big part of RSL coming to the state of Utah and I just grew up loving this team, So to watch him love it just as much as I did is super cool,” she said.

Kate Booth plays soccer at Utah Valley and actually came straight from two UVU games in Provo to watch her husband play.

“It’s awesome to watch him. I love watching how much fun he has, and also, it’s fun for me, too,” she said.

Leading up to Saturday’s game, she said she and her husband treated it like any other game.

“But I knew there was something special, and I love all the support we’ve been getting, and just seeing him so excited to play for his home team has been really, really awesome,” she said.

‘He represents a lot of Utahns’

RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni spoke of how Zach Booth’s story can be inspiration to young soccer players in Utah.

“I think the great thing is Zach grew up here in Utah, and then he left and then he came back,” Mastroeni said.

Mastroeni had high praise for Booth’s performance Saturday.

“He’s a wonderful player, and he put in a great shift tonight. Plays for the team. I think he plays for the club, he plays for the state. He represents a lot of Utahns that come to the game, and I think it was obviously a really proud moment for him.”

Zach Booth wasn’t the only homegrown player to make an impact Saturday. Eighteen-year-old Aiden Hezarkhani scored the first goal of the game and of his career.

Fellow homegrowns Zavier Gozo and Luca Moisa also started and made a difference in the win.

Mastroeni noted that those players aren’t much older than some of the young fans at the game.

“I think that’s where magic begins as a young kid, is when you begin to dream, and then you see your dream in the stadium become reality,” he said.

“I think these guys are really moving the needle as to how we can continue to get some great soccer here in Utah, which I think already exists, but the belief that one day I can represent RSL.”

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