Speaker 1: I we're live today at the Black Desert Resorts in
Speaker 1: Beautiful Saint George. We're broadcasting live in their clubhouse, right
Speaker 1: next to the golf course and adjacent from the resort itself.
Speaker 1: Down here for the Kyle Van Neutcharity Golf Tournament. Had
Speaker 1: a chance to play the track today. It is such
Speaker 1: an awesome course. The resort is up functional. They've got
Speaker 1: some dust as they continue the construction. But if you've
Speaker 1: never been down here, I would highly recommend it to
Speaker 1: the Black Desert Resort in Beautiful Saint George. We'll get
Speaker 1: back to some NBA Draft stuff. Utah Football locked in
Speaker 1: or recruit today for the twenty sixth class that we'll
Speaker 1: get to, but thim to switch gears. We'll talk a
Speaker 1: little soccer, little RSL some exciting things going on that
Speaker 1: folks might not know about. Former outside back once upon
Speaker 1: a time. He's now the assistant general manager and a
Speaker 1: friend of the show. It's always fun to spend some
Speaker 1: time with a great Tony Beltran on a Monday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Tony, Happy Monday, buddy.
Speaker 3: How are we doing high spends? Happy Monday. It's great
Speaker 3: to connect. Great to be back.
Speaker 4: From the show, and I'm I'm glad to hear that
Speaker 4: you're down in Saint George beautiful resorts and enjoying the tournament.
Speaker 4: I had the privilege to go down there a couple
Speaker 4: months ago, and it certainly is spectacular.
Speaker 2: Yes it is. How is your game, Tony? By the way,
Speaker 2: how are you as a golfer?
Speaker 3: So my game is non existent? I am?
Speaker 4: You want to look And the reason for that sense is,
Speaker 4: you know, I'm you know, just in the stage of
Speaker 4: life that I'm in, right. I have three young kids,
Speaker 4: I have a very demanding job, and so you know,
Speaker 4: any of my excess time goes to my family. I
Speaker 4: haven't picked up a golf club and probably over a decade,
Speaker 4: but at some point in life.
Speaker 3: I would like to revisit it because.
Speaker 4: In my youth I had a ton of fun. I
Speaker 4: grew up playing golf with my dad, and I am,
Speaker 4: you know, a very avid supporter of the sports and
Speaker 4: certainly appreciate the arts that is his the game of golf.
Speaker 1: Fair enough, all right, Tony, before we get to you know,
Speaker 1: Rayl saw Lake, the Senior Club and some of the
Speaker 1: struggles and hopefully some of the pieces of hope you
Speaker 1: can offer. I'm not sure how many of our listeners know,
Speaker 1: and quite frankly, if I'm honest, I found out after
Speaker 1: because I happen to be golfing with your guy Trey
Speaker 1: that the uh so, I mean, this is cool, Like RSL,
Speaker 1: the U sixteen squad has literally made history, first team
Speaker 1: in history to win both Generation Adidas and MLS Next,
Speaker 1: MLS Next Cup, those two titles coming in the same
Speaker 1: season after you guys were able to defeat Atlanta United
Speaker 1: two to one just a few days back. So of course,
Speaker 1: you know, you guys have your decisions to make with
Speaker 1: the senior squad and that gets most of the attention.
Speaker 1: But this is kind of your baby, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is kind of what you have been focused on.
Speaker 1: So first of all, congratulations. Second of all, unpack this.
Speaker 1: What do you think this means for the U sixteens
Speaker 1: and hopefully eventually the senior club?
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you, Spence. I appreciate the kind words. And look,
Speaker 4: this has been my baby, you know, and certainly a
Speaker 4: great many you know, more worthy staff members than myself
Speaker 4: their baby as well over the past really over the
Speaker 4: past several years. And look, I think it's important just
Speaker 4: to give a little bit of context and maybe walk
Speaker 4: through history up to this point, just to provide perspective
Speaker 4: on what this actually means, right, and so you.
Speaker 3: Know you think about it.
Speaker 4: From the Academy was the inception of the Academy was
Speaker 4: in twenty ten, right, and very quickly that was in Arizona,
Speaker 4: very quickly. There was a prodigious class of players that
Speaker 4: was led by Justin Glad, Jordan Allen Corey, Barrett Brooks, Lynn,
Speaker 4: Aaron Herrera, a lot of story players that have had
Speaker 4: it from the success in MLS and for RSL, right,
Speaker 4: and there was so much productivity for the first team
Speaker 4: because of the developmental pipeline three D the Academy and
Speaker 4: so so now you know, if you fast forward to
Speaker 4: twenty seventeen when the Academy was brought to Harriman at
Speaker 4: Science Bank Training Campus here, you know that was a
Speaker 4: difficult period for the Academy. There wasn't, you know, quite
Speaker 4: the developmental resources that were necessary, The structure wasn't there,
Speaker 4: and the player productivity from that period dropped from the
Speaker 4: previous period that I referenced when new ownership took over.
Speaker 4: When mister Blitzer pursues the club in point twenty one,
Speaker 4: a major motivator and focus of them doing so is
Speaker 4: to reinvest in the academy, and so resources were provided
Speaker 4: so that we could do all the things that we
Speaker 4: wanted to do, and that's you. We wanted to retain
Speaker 4: the top talent from our territories. We wanted to improve
Speaker 4: player recruitment, We wanted to be able to recruit top
Speaker 4: coaches to foster an elite developmental environments, and we wanted
Speaker 4: to more than anything, develop professional players capable of contributing
Speaker 4: in MLS, right, And the number one truth that I've
Speaker 4: learned in youth development is that you can't chief time,
Speaker 4: and so there was a lot of patience required with
Speaker 4: this investment, and everything is starting to happen all at
Speaker 4: once in terms of what that investment is producing, right,
Speaker 4: and we're seeing that that's really led by Zavi Rgozo
Speaker 4: at the first team level. Be two thousand and seven class,
Speaker 4: and that's the year that Zavier Gozo and his cohort
Speaker 4: we're going into that class. That was the first class
Speaker 4: that was recruited develops you know, that have gone through
Speaker 4: our full pathway right under everything I just referenced, and
Speaker 4: so so Xavier is is again leading the way right
Speaker 4: but behind him in the two thousand and seven, the
Speaker 4: eight Neo Nines which is the C sixteen team, the Nines,
Speaker 4: and twenty tens. Those are our classes that we've developed
Speaker 4: with this new structure as well. And so for the
Speaker 4: six teams to look to to have this historic achievement
Speaker 4: is another healthy indicator of how look of how strong.
Speaker 3: Our developmental pipeline is.
Speaker 4: And it's it's certainly something to be proud of because
Speaker 4: if we reference his again, that Justin glad Era has
Speaker 4: produced so much value for the club, and you know,
Speaker 4: in our expectation, my expectation is that the player cool
Speaker 4: that we have in our academy now is going to
Speaker 4: do the same.
Speaker 1: Okay, So I'm gonna ask you about some of these players, Tody,
Speaker 1: I'm not you know, one of the things that bothers
Speaker 1: me about my business is you will be interviewed by
Speaker 1: people that pretend they do things that they did not do.
Speaker 2: I did not watch any of these games.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to pretend like I did, so I'm
Speaker 1: just reading the recaps here, okay. So Van Parker Golden
Speaker 1: Boot winner eight of RSL's eighteen goals throughout the competition
Speaker 1: and then leading the team in goals he won the
Speaker 1: Golden Boot, won the MVP. What do we need to
Speaker 1: know about this young man? What kind of player is he?
Speaker 1: What kind of kid is he?
Speaker 3: Look?
Speaker 4: I think I think I'll reference his character first, right,
Speaker 4: and in doing so, I'll kind of zoom out not
Speaker 4: only to Van Parker, but also to his cohort as
Speaker 4: well in the academy. Going back to the structure that
Speaker 4: I said that we implemented Spence, something that I'm so
Speaker 4: proud of is the cultural expectations.
Speaker 3: That we have at the academy, Right.
Speaker 4: We expect our boys to aspire for excellence in academics, citizenships,
Speaker 4: and soccer, with soccer always following academics and citizenships. So
Speaker 4: you know, again, the two things that I can tell
Speaker 4: you right off the bat about Van Parker are true
Speaker 4: for all of the fifty two players in our academy.
Speaker 4: He's a phenomenal student. Okay, that's number one. The average
Speaker 4: GTA for orders combined from the last school year for
Speaker 4: all of our again, our fifty two players an on
Speaker 4: site high school was just over three points, right, And
Speaker 4: that's that's a really really cool staff that I love sharing.
Speaker 4: And it's important because of all the things we know, right,
Speaker 4: like to be. To make it as a professional athlete,
Speaker 4: to make it in life, you have to be able
Speaker 4: to learn, take on information, have a growth mindset. All
Speaker 4: those things the classroom and success there is such a
Speaker 4: healthy indicator of what players can do, what people can do,
Speaker 4: you know, as we move forward in this game and
Speaker 4: in life citizenship. The second pillar, right Van Parker is
Speaker 4: He's got a phenomenal mentality. He's a great teammate, he's
Speaker 4: a great kid. He's beloved by everyone on campus.
Speaker 3: And moving on to you know, to the latter pillar soccer.
Speaker 4: He is an absolute beast of a player. He is
Speaker 4: some one I think the word that I'll use is
Speaker 4: he's a bully on the field. I mean that in
Speaker 4: a very positive way. He's a center forward who can
Speaker 4: play as a standalone nine. He can occupy both center
Speaker 4: backs and any ball that is within you know, I
Speaker 4: don't know a fifteen year radius of him. He can
Speaker 4: absolutely eat up any physical challenge and bully and bang
Speaker 4: with the rest of them as he just steamrolls the
Speaker 4: back line and scores goals like he did the eight
Speaker 4: goals of this tournament.
Speaker 3: So Van is someone you know that we're.
Speaker 4: Really excited about in our in our pathway and someone
Speaker 4: who we're very happy to see success on this national board.
Speaker 1: Entirely embarrassed that I'm about to ask you if the
Speaker 1: head coach Jordan Allen is RSL's Jordan Allen. Is it
Speaker 1: the same Jordan Allen?
Speaker 3: No, look it is. It is the same word now, yes,
Speaker 3: and so very cool. After he left RSL, he was.
Speaker 4: He went back to UVA and he finished up his
Speaker 4: degree there and was working as an assistant coach with
Speaker 4: their men's soccer program.
Speaker 3: And then from there we recruited Jordan to come in
Speaker 3: and be a coach for.
Speaker 4: Our academy, and so he joined OURCEL Academy. I believe
Speaker 4: that was in Cashion, going to get it wrong, but
Speaker 4: I think that might have been in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4: And he's been with us, yes, twenty twenty one. He's
Speaker 4: been with us for the past four years. And so Jordan,
Speaker 4: as you know, Spence, and as many people in this
Speaker 4: ecosystem know, he is. You know, when you say who's
Speaker 4: the best player to come ever come out of Ursel Academy,
Speaker 4: people usually say Jordan, now right, But so he's got
Speaker 4: he's got a phenomenal perspective on the player pathway because
Speaker 4: he's experienced it, he's lived it. He's gone from an
Speaker 4: academy player with you know, those dreams of aspiration to
Speaker 4: playing in MLS at a very high level. And now
Speaker 4: as a coach, it's been, you know, so incredible to
Speaker 4: see his character, his drive, who he is as a
Speaker 4: person continue in the in this new challenge as a
Speaker 4: coach within our developmental ranks.
Speaker 3: And Jordan has had.
Speaker 4: Has had this group for the past two years and
Speaker 4: obviously you know he's the driver of that environment. And
Speaker 4: knowing his character, the way he approaches his craft, his dedication,
Speaker 4: everything about him, that is again a very healthy indicator
Speaker 4: of why this team has had the success that has
Speaker 4: led to us having this conversation part.
Speaker 1: Of a text I received tell me prime for this interview,
Speaker 1: and now I'm understanding it. I'm realizing in real time
Speaker 1: as Trey said, the keeper has been great. And now
Speaker 1: I know why he said the Keeper because he probably
Speaker 1: doesn't know how to pronounce the name.
Speaker 2: So here we go.
Speaker 1: Custintinos Kyrie azis no idea, if that's right. That's my
Speaker 1: first time I first and that I just broke my
Speaker 1: own radio rule, Tony, I don't do that if I
Speaker 1: haven't practiced the name, but I'm seeing that he had
Speaker 1: a great tournament. Can you tell us about this, this
Speaker 1: young keeper of yours.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, absolutely, you know this is fantastic. Look uh
Speaker 3: look spence Worth.
Speaker 4: You know these are these are young men, right, you know,
Speaker 4: these are fifteen year old young men, right and so,
Speaker 4: but but it is it is so much fun to
Speaker 4: to watch them come in at a very young age.
Speaker 3: Tinos. Actually, I think he joined this when he was
Speaker 3: thirteen or just after he turned fourteen. He's been with the.
Speaker 4: Academy for for a year and a half and so
Speaker 4: to see his progression, to see his development, his his
Speaker 4: continued maturity during that time leading up to his success.
Speaker 4: You know, this year he was the he was the
Speaker 4: earned the Golden Glove at GA Cup and now his.
Speaker 3: You know, helped carry the team to to this.
Speaker 4: Latest accolade and lifting the MLS next Cup trophy. Tinos,
Speaker 4: his his fingerprints are all over that and his ability
Speaker 4: to to.
Speaker 3: You know, to put to play out of the back.
Speaker 4: Calmly under pressure in a very Nick Romando esque way
Speaker 4: is fantastic and very well compliment minted by his his
Speaker 4: shots stopping ability in his brain Tinos is about twice
Speaker 4: my height for your reference, and that's you know, that's.
Speaker 3: He's certainly imposing in the goal.
Speaker 4: And we're very proud again of of of Altinos's continued development.
Speaker 1: All right, I'll ask you about one more because this
Speaker 1: young man was the MVP of the g A Cup,
Speaker 1: Ryland Hashimoto, who is not.
Speaker 2: Related to Duke.
Speaker 1: For you old school RSL fans, uh So, tell me
Speaker 1: about Ryland.
Speaker 2: Tell me what kind of player Ryland is.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he's He's one of the most two
Speaker 4: footed players that I've ever seen.
Speaker 3: Spence.
Speaker 4: He's an attacking player. He can play all across the
Speaker 4: front line, but you know, primarily as a ten or
Speaker 4: or maybe an inverted winger. But Ryland's got incredible balanced,
Speaker 4: incredible technique, an unparalleled ability to move the ball between
Speaker 4: both feet and off balance defenders.
Speaker 3: And he can really score from you know.
Speaker 4: All over the field, including including including on a cornertick.
Speaker 3: In this my final match he scored.
Speaker 4: It was a really tight game and at zero zero
Speaker 4: he scored an olympico straight from the corner to to
Speaker 4: you know, start the scoring there before he went off
Speaker 4: and when night game three nothing.
Speaker 3: So Ryland is He's he's got.
Speaker 4: A ton of natural attacking ability, and again it's been
Speaker 4: great to see his progress and success this year.
Speaker 1: Last one here, and then we'll get some thoughts on
Speaker 1: the Senior Club, the match this weekend to three points
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, and et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 1: I understand that your academics have gone from two point
Speaker 1: five to three point nine over the past three years.
Speaker 1: After Dave Blitzer about the team, and there's a woman
Speaker 1: named Roxy who deserves some flowers Tony, as the kids
Speaker 1: would say.
Speaker 2: So the space is.
Speaker 3: Yours, Spence.
Speaker 4: First of all, shout outs to Tray Fitzgerald, who I'm
Speaker 4: assuming preppy for this interview, and I'm really you know,
Speaker 4: that's so cool that he he wanted to part of
Speaker 4: this airspace to cover Roxy because I think, you know, look,
Speaker 4: there's a there's a large number of people that deserve,
Speaker 4: you know, shared credit for all the success or Academy
Speaker 4: is having.
Speaker 3: I think Roxy is right at the forefront of that.
Speaker 3: And yes, the stat that you.
Speaker 4: Said is true. When mister Blitzer took over the club,
Speaker 4: the average GPA hovered around two point four. And now,
Speaker 4: like I said earlier in this call, all four quarters
Speaker 4: for all, you know, in this past high school year,
Speaker 4: in the twenty twenty four twenty twenty five school year,
Speaker 4: we're above three point eight. And so you know, Roxy
Speaker 4: is is, it's her department, and she has brought in
Speaker 4: a ton of you know, of energy, of commitment and
Speaker 4: expertise and support for all these boys and not only
Speaker 4: just you know, helping them. Look, it's a very difficult
Speaker 4: thing to be a student athlete, right, especially at a
Speaker 4: young age when all of this is right in front
Speaker 4: of you. But Roxy does an incredible job of keeping
Speaker 4: those boys engaged and focused and challenging them as well.
Speaker 4: Another stat that I love, which I think is a
Speaker 4: testament to her is prior to the to her coming.
Speaker 3: Into twenty twenty one, we had.
Speaker 4: Two I think it was two to five players every
Speaker 4: quarter would take you know, a higher level class concurrent
Speaker 4: enrollment or AP class or anything for college credit. And
Speaker 4: now over fifty percent of our student athlete population has
Speaker 4: some form of concurrent enrollment or AP honors class. And
Speaker 4: so she is driving everything, you know, as far as
Speaker 4: academics and certainly in the character expectations for our players
Speaker 4: as well. And yes, Miss Roxy, and it deserves all
Speaker 4: the credit and all the flowers.
Speaker 2: Okay, good stuff, Tony. Let's move on.
Speaker 1: And I actually was excited when I saw you on
Speaker 1: the rundown because there are some things that I haven't
Speaker 1: been able to talk to you about that I've spoken
Speaker 1: with Kurt and Jason and Pablo, you know who stopped
Speaker 1: by very consistently.
Speaker 2: So here's where I want.
Speaker 1: To start as we move over to the senior club.
Speaker 1: And look, this is nuanced, it's complex, it's not you
Speaker 1: can't be reductive, but we can say Chicho seventeen goals,
Speaker 1: twelve assists, Andras thirteen goals, nine assists and oh nine goals,
Speaker 1: three assists, Matt Crooks three goals, five assists, you get
Speaker 1: You get the gist, right. So last year, about fifteen
Speaker 1: eighteen games, I swear you guys played potentially the best
Speaker 1: soccer that I've ever.
Speaker 2: Seen played by an RSL team.
Speaker 1: All of those players are gone, and for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: there have not been adequate replacements brought in as of yet.
Speaker 1: What's fair to say about why that hasn't happened.
Speaker 4: Look, I think you know I don't want to deflect
Speaker 4: or defer, but I know you've had previous conversations with Kurt, right,
Speaker 4: And I think Kurt is the authority to answer that.
Speaker 3: But look, you know, I'll say, you.
Speaker 4: Know, we are constantly looking and evaluating the roster and
Speaker 4: taking an information to help make informed decisions, right. And
Speaker 4: part of that, you know, it's you know, either in
Speaker 4: the president of the past or the future for our
Speaker 4: ross are really any roster in a professional aspect, you know,
Speaker 4: we're going to be looking at additions. What you mentioned
Speaker 4: was a lot of gold productivity, right, and I appreciate that.
Speaker 3: You know, if with that kind.
Speaker 4: Of productivity departure, you of course have to you have
Speaker 4: to replace that, you know, at other places in their roster.
Speaker 4: And so you know, I think we are very excited about,
Speaker 4: you know, the attacking pieces that we have, right, I
Speaker 4: think you know, the obvious ones are there.
Speaker 3: And then I don't want to say a welcome edition.
Speaker 4: As well has been Zavi Ergozo to go back to
Speaker 4: the academy and as he's bloken into the attacking side
Speaker 4: of the first team lineup. But again, you know that
Speaker 4: what you referenced was was a lot of production, right,
Speaker 4: and production is something that that helps drive success, especially
Speaker 4: in MLS in this week, and so that's something we're
Speaker 4: conscious of. That's something we're looking at and we're trying
Speaker 4: to make you know the informed right decision and get
Speaker 4: the right player so that you know we can impact
Speaker 4: in all parts of the roster as necessary.
Speaker 2: So we'll end with the good.
Speaker 1: But before we get there, you know, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to ask you if you feel like this is a
Speaker 1: lost season, because there's no way you would say that
Speaker 1: you do even if you felt that way. But it
Speaker 1: did get late early tony for you guys, leaving points
Speaker 1: on the board, having some tough breaks with some officiating
Speaker 1: gaps if we're honest and being fair, and then ultimately,
Speaker 1: you know, eighteen goals score. There's only four teams in
Speaker 1: MLS that have scored less than that, So the attacking
Speaker 1: prowess just isn't there. So whether it's the secondary window
Speaker 1: that's opening here in a number of weeks, you know,
Speaker 1: three weeks or so, or growth from within or comfort
Speaker 1: of a got it and Russell, what gives you the
Speaker 1: most confidence that with halfway, you know, kind of behind
Speaker 1: us now, there's still a lot to play for and
Speaker 1: maybe you guys can crack that top seven or whatever
Speaker 1: and make the playoffs.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think there's several things fence to give me
Speaker 4: a lot of confidence, you know. Number one is just
Speaker 4: knowing mless right, and knowing how look, how arduous the
Speaker 4: summer is, but also how much opportunity there is, and
Speaker 4: you know, there's a ton of opportunity in the games
Speaker 4: remaining that we have. You know, look you look at
Speaker 4: the you know, historical amount of points that it takes
Speaker 4: to get to the playoffs, and there is a clear
Speaker 4: path for us, especially with the number of home games
Speaker 4: that we have remaining. And so you know, knowing that,
Speaker 4: knowing you know, the sturdy leadership that we have in
Speaker 4: Pablo Masterni, and knowing like you said, that the summer
Speaker 4: window is is you know, is on the horizon as well.
Speaker 3: That does give me a lot of confidence.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: And also look my own experience as well, and leaning
Speaker 4: on you know, RSL's history and other teams in this
Speaker 4: league that have gained momentum late in the season and
Speaker 4: had that carried towards not only a playoff word, but
Speaker 4: success from the playoffs as well.
Speaker 3: And so look, I think.
Speaker 4: Whether you're talking about us at this stage or you know,
Speaker 4: any other team who's who's not.
Speaker 3: Mathematically you know, eliminated.
Speaker 4: It would be crazy to characterize, categorize, you know, the
Speaker 4: city where in you're near a Lossington At all I
Speaker 4: see is is the opportunity ahead, and we're focusing on
Speaker 4: the ways in which we can capitalize on that.
Speaker 1: All right, Tony, before I say you lose, I mean,
Speaker 1: the overwhelming bright spot of this season has been the
Speaker 1: star of Diego Luna, rising and rising and rising and
Speaker 1: continues to rise with the national team. I would imagine
Speaker 1: that you have a soft spot for the Gold Cup,
Speaker 1: if I recall correctly, Once upon a time you may
Speaker 1: have been able to have that experience. So your thoughts
Speaker 1: on just what a tremendous player that Diego has evolved into,
Speaker 1: your hope for his Gold Cup experience and his national
Speaker 1: team experience, and your belief and what he can be
Speaker 1: as he continues to grow and evolve.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's you know, spends a shame on me that
Speaker 4: it took me this long in the interview too, and
Speaker 4: you had to bring it.
Speaker 3: Up for me to say, Diego in it right because he.
Speaker 4: Is. I admire him and in all the ways that
Speaker 4: that an athlete that a man can be admired, right
Speaker 4: is obviously as a player in the field, but also
Speaker 4: as as a leader. His character off the field, his
Speaker 4: engagement in the community is you know, his commitment to
Speaker 4: to his craft certainly, but just just Diego is a
Speaker 4: class act, right, and you reference him being, you know,
Speaker 4: a bright spot for our team and the star of
Speaker 4: our team. But look, I think it's also important to
Speaker 4: know Diego's you know, he's the star of the league.
Speaker 3: He is the star of the US men's national team
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 4: And and I think you know a way that I
Speaker 4: can very concisely maybe package that.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: One of the reasons why that because why that is
Speaker 4: because there's many is because of what translates through the medium,
Speaker 4: whether you're watching him in person or watching him on TV,
Speaker 4: or you know, watching him train, you know, on a
Speaker 4: weekly basis like I do. Diego is so exciting to watch,
Speaker 4: right and you can see how badly he wants to
Speaker 4: win and how competitive that he is.
Speaker 3: And that's that's inspiring. You know that that's engaging.
Speaker 4: And it's been it's been fantastic to see him find
Speaker 4: continued success at our at our club, and he's to
Speaker 4: see his continued development and I think he's been an
Speaker 4: inspiration to again pull it back to an area of
Speaker 4: the club that we talked about earlier, an inspiration to
Speaker 4: to all the aspiring young players within our academy and
Speaker 4: and developmental pipeline as well, because Diego is someone who,
Speaker 4: throughout his path refused to take no for an answer
Speaker 4: and met adversity, you know.
Speaker 3: In whatever form the only way he knew how.
Speaker 4: And that was head on, and you know, with with
Speaker 4: all the desire and fight to overcome it. And so look,
Speaker 4: I think it's been a privilege to to see Diego
Speaker 4: play both with RSL and with the US men's national team,
Speaker 4: and and the Gold Cup does have a special place
Speaker 4: in my heart and I wish him and his his
Speaker 4: team and the staff there all the success over the
Speaker 4: rest of the tournament.
Speaker 1: I would be remiss before I set you loose if
Speaker 1: I did not ask you about your teammate who was
Speaker 1: recently inducted into the Ring of Honor, joining Jason Christ
Speaker 1: and Javier Morales. So final thing, tom before before I
Speaker 1: say you loose on a Monday, What does Nick Romando
Speaker 1: mean to Rayel Salake?
Speaker 3: Look, I think he means, man, I mean, how much
Speaker 3: time do we have left? Spense?
Speaker 4: Go ahead, you know, I appreciate that. Look, I think,
Speaker 4: you know, it's it's interesting being on you know, on
Speaker 4: on the side of the lines. Right. And now Nick
Speaker 4: is you know, Nick and I are colleagues in a
Speaker 4: different sense. You know, he's obviously the goalkeeper goalkeeping coach
Speaker 4: for the Monarchs, right, and so we work in that
Speaker 4: capacity together, you know, And and oftentimes we're both so busy,
Speaker 4: I don't I don't consciously reflect or reminisce on on
Speaker 4: those days, right, you know, those days when we were
Speaker 4: both playing, and so you know, being there for his induction,
Speaker 4: you know, and seeing the video and having conversations with
Speaker 4: his family and friends and former teammates and watching all
Speaker 4: those things, is you look, a reminder of something that
Speaker 4: I shouldn't have to be reminded of. And that's just
Speaker 4: how massive Nick Hermondo was as a player, and how
Speaker 4: talented and how you know, I may be I will
Speaker 4: save this way, what a luxury it was, What a
Speaker 4: privilege it was to play defense in front of him, right,
Speaker 4: And Nick is, Look, he is he is one of
Speaker 4: the best to ever do it.
Speaker 3: At that position.
Speaker 4: I said this to you know a few people international
Speaker 4: acquaintances over the past few weeks that look during his day,
Speaker 4: I don't know if there was a goalkeeper in the
Speaker 4: world with better people than Nick, right, and then you
Speaker 4: could go on to you know, all the other prodigious
Speaker 4: aspects of his game, and so it is.
Speaker 3: It's been really cool.
Speaker 4: To again reminisce be a little bit nostalgic and be
Speaker 4: remind minded of his prowess on the field. And obviously
Speaker 4: you know all the accolades that Nick has received this
Speaker 4: year and being cemented, you know, he cemented his name
Speaker 4: on the side of the building is something, you know,
Speaker 4: something very cool and a worthy gesture for the greatest
Speaker 4: to ever do it for for our club in an
Speaker 4: MLS at that position.
Speaker 2: Tony, it's always fun man.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on the success on and off the field with
Speaker 1: the academy kids, the U six teams.
Speaker 2: Keep doing keep keep doing your thing, and you know
Speaker 2: I'm always pulling for you and in your corner.
Speaker 3: Thanks for the time, buddy, Thank you, Vince, appreciate it
Speaker 3: great to connect.
Speaker 2: Take care, Tony Beltran.
Speaker 1: Tony Beltran played at the highest of levels, played with
Speaker 1: the USNS national team in the Gold Cup outside back,
Speaker 1: was a really good player for RSL. He's transitioned over
Speaker 1: into the front office where he is the assistant general Manager.
Speaker 2: RSL is back at action coming up this weekend.
Speaker 1: It's been a really light month, but they will take
Speaker 1: on Sporting Kansas City coming up on Saturday at six
Speaker 1: thirty Mountain time.
Speaker 2: Children's Mercy Park is the venue.
Speaker 1: MLS season Pass on Apple TV is how you can
Speaker 1: check it out.