UYSA Community Loses Beloved Coach
February 1, 2023, Salt Lake City, UT - The Utah soccer community lost an important member of its family on Monday as Clay Holbrook passed away.
As a youth player, Clay was part of the first Utah Youth Soccer Association team to win far west regionals and qualify for Nationals in 1995. As a coach, Clay’s winning percentage, championship teams, and his RSL Coach of the Year stand out in a career that spanned decades of service to our youth players. Additionally, he was an assistant coach for Farmington High School. On the club side, Clay spent many years on the sidelines for La Roca FC, Forza FC and then became was one of the two founding coaches at MetaSport FC. He concluded his club service there.
Clay was a fantastic coach but as someone who personally knew him, he was a better father to his three children and to the hundreds of other kids he adopted along the way with a hat on his head and a soccer ball at his feet. I could go on about the amazing man Clay Holbrook was, but I believe it can be better summarized this way. At some point everyone has asked themselves, “If I had to do something important and I needed one person to be there with me, who would that be?“ I know of many people who chose Clay to be that person at some point. That really matters when you think about lives well lived. You will be missed Coach Holbrook.
To support Clay's family, you can donate to a GoFundMe in their behalf.
- Toby Yoshida, Former UYSA Board Member
