Real Salt Lake's youth movement taking hold; 10th active roster player imminent

Real Salt Lake's academy efforts, which started in earnest in 2010, are starting to pay dividends for the organization.

With the signing of Maikon Orellana, Real Salt Lake and Real Monarchs have a combined 10 former academy players on the books. Part of this is the influence of Freddy Juarez, Monarchs coach, but it's also a testament to the quality of the academy development system.

A number of these standouts were in the academy as early as the very successful 2010-2011 academy season.

Real Monarchs (4)

Coco Navarro, '10-11: Scored buckets of goals for the academy, was later surpassed by Sebastian Saucedo. Played for Marquette.

Maikon Orellana, '10-11: Played in Scandinavia, now returns for Monarchs

Etiandro Tavares, '10-11: Stuck around in Arizona after graduating from the academy

Ricardo Velazco, '10-11: A goalscoring midfielder with a great free kick; played for Louisville

Real Salt Lake (6)

Jordan Allen, '11-12: The man of the hour; played for University of Virginia

Lalo Fernandez, '10-11: Still hasn't picked up senior minutes, but has been a reliable reserves/USL goalkeeper since joining

Justen Glad, '11-12: One of the more promising young players the academy has produced, but injuries have stymied his career somewhat

Phanuel Kavita, '10-11: Very talented defender from Salt Lake City, joins after four years at Clemson

Fito Ovalle, '12-13: Chilean youth national team player from Layton, of all places

Sebastian Saucedo, '12-13: Great creative attacking player from Park City

Former RSL players (4)

Benji Lopez, '12-13: Never played a first-team minute; looks to be awaiting May to join a team

Nico Muñiz, '10-11: Never played a first-team minute

Carlos Salcedo, '11-12: Played a bit for the first team, but agitated his way out of the club

Donny Toia, '10-11: Didn't make it with us, landed at Chivas USA eventually, now at Montreal Impact