Damir Kreilach leaving incredible legacy with Real Salt Lake, and very little is due to soccer
Damir Kreilach leaving incredible legacy with Real Salt Lake, and very little is due to soccer
Goals, assists and wins have little to do with Kreilach's legacy in Salt Lake City, even if there are plenty of those. Just ask the people in Kreilach's Corner at Rio Tinto Stadium.
HERRIMAN — There was only one thing left to do after Damir Kreilach scored his first goal of the year to give Real Salt Lake a 2-1 lead over Toronto FC (prior to a 2-2 home draw) in front of a third consecutive sellout at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The Croatian international chested a cross down from Maikel Chang and ripped it into the top shelf just moments before halftime to give RSL the advantage. He then spun around to look at a group of onrushing teammates, but instead of running to embrace them, he sprinted toward the corner flag, hopped over a digital advertising board near the sideline, and leapt towards the crowd in the stadium next door to “Beckerman’s Block,” named in honor of recently retired RSL legend Kyle Beckerman.
There was only one place he wanted to celebrate: with the people, most of whom were there because of him, the midfielder making his first start since the season opener after recovering from a calf injury.
“It’s emotional,” Kreilach said. “It’s hard coming back after an injury, to help the team the best way you can. On and off the field, it was a special moment, from the great assist from Chang to the whole team.
“We deserved three points, and didn’t get it. But as long as we keep fighting, we know we’re going to get back on the winning path. The mentality is great, everyone believes, and that’s what it is all about.”
That corner of the stadium is a reminder what it truly is all about.
Just over a month ago, RSL unveiled Kreilach’s Corner, the aptly named portion of Rio Tinto Stadium dedicated to the community around the club and the Salt Lake Valley and named for the recent birthday boy.
Once bearing the name of a local convenience store chain and other corporate sponsors, the 2022 rendition of the corner encapsulates a bigger message. Kreilach gives credit for the idea to Kyle Schroeder, the director of the RSL’s community foundation, who broached the move to donate a select number of season tickets to underserved children in the community who otherwise might not get a chance to see a match at the RioT.
Kreilach didn’t think twice about it; in fact, he didn’t even consider how much it would cost. Financial details were not disclosed, but the math could probably be done pretty easily — 200 tickets at around $42 each, spread out over 34 games.
But Kreilach never asked about the price; whatever it takes, he said. Money would be no object. This is something he wanted to do to give back to the community and the fanbase — no matter the cost.
Because of that, club leadership quickly followed suit, with owners David Blitzer, Ryan Smith and other executives matching Kreilach’s donation with 200 additional tickets. Salt Lake City-based Infinite Scale added a 100-ticket contribution soon thereafter, and 1WireFiber — a longtime club sponsor — added 30 more.
Pretty soon, close to 500 tickets were allotted to the area, which will be used to provide the underprivileged community with an experience they otherwise might not have.
“Damir’s inspirational leadership and his humble willingness to do anything for this Club deserves support as we aggressively pursue our goal of populating that ‘Kreilach’s Corner’ 500-strong when we kick off” the 2022 season, RSL president John Kimball said when the club unveiled the initiative.
Money doesn’t matter, because the volume of tickets isn’t about money. It’s about community — something Kreilach found when he first signed with RSL five years ago. A fan favorite beloved by his teammates, coaches and club staff, Real Salt Lake means more to Kreilach than the 43 goals and 23 assists he’s scattered over five years.
Since moving to Utah, he’s found community, he’s found family, and he’s found a home. His second daughter was born on the Wasatch Front, and the 33-year-old utility midfielder and his wife Ivana have put down considerable roots in Utah.
When the club announced a contract extension for Kreilach, RSL essentially gave Kreilach carte blanche to stay in Utah for as long as he wants — or at least, beyond the 2023 option that is currently written into the details.
If he wants to stay, they’ll find a way to make room for the man who now wears the captain’s armband. If he wants to go back to Europe or anywhere else, the club will leave Kreilach’s timeline up to Kreilach alone.
“He’s a professional. He’s a culture setter. He leads by example. And he produces,” RSL general manager Elliot Fall said of Kreilach. “He steps up in every big moment. You look at the big moments in the last three years for RSL, Damir plays a role in nearly every one of them. That says all you need to know about him.”
It’s impossible to tell what the future may bring. But right now, there is nowhere Damir Kreilach would rather be than the Salt Lake Valley.
“I see Utah as my home,” he said. “My second daughter was born here, it’s my fifth year, and if God gives me another chance to pick a city or state in the United States, I’ll pick Utah — just because of the people, of the community, of RSL as a club.
“From the first day I came here, everyone welcomed me in a special way. This is how you start to feel like you are part of the community, part of the club, and you give everything on the field to fulfill their expectations and my expectations. I’m so grateful and honored to be here, and to be part of RSL.”
The 500 people in Kreilach’s Corner make up a small portion of the 20,213-seat stadium capacity that has fueled the club’s three-straight sellouts, its longest season-opening streak of sellouts since 2015. But it means everything to Kreilach, and his teammates.
“It gives us confidence and, at the end of the day, expectations are high,” Kreilach said. “We want to give those guys, the fans, something back. This is to give everything on the field, and to make them happy.”
At 33, Kreilach is cognizant of the legacy he is leaving in his career, in Salt Lake City, and in the RSL Academy. He regularly visits training of other teams in the club’s umbrella, from Real Monarchs down, and takes time to share a word, a smile, or take photos with fans, students and recruits in Herriman.
That’s the legacy he most wants to leave, on the field: a strong club that is more than one player, one person or one championship. That means building up a system of success — a developmental pipeline of rising stars — long after he’s gone.
But there’s more to his legacy than goals, assists and wins — even more than trophies.
“I’m here to play soccer; that’s the most important thing,” Kreilach said. “But all things that are beside soccer are important, too. With the new ownership group, we are included much more in some things that the foundation does, charity things and helping people.
“At the end of the day, those things are important: inviting people to the stadium, making them happy to be there, to spend their time with their family in the stadium, to cheer on us. And it means a lot.”