Rob Karas: Head Coach for the University of Utah Men's Soccer
Coach Rob Karas is entering his 3rd year as Head Coach for the University of Utah Men's Soccer Team.
As a player, Coach Karas, grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was a 2-Time High School First Team Player. At the age of 15, Rob decided to test the waters of England and tried out with the professional teams: Ipswich Town FC, Cambridge United, and Colchester United. He came back and was a member of the U17 Western Regional Olympic Team. Upon graduating from Taylorsville High School, he went on to play Division 1 Soccer with the University of Nevada, at Las Vegas, and the University of Maryland, at Baltimore County.
As a professional player, Coach Karas, played with the Arizona Sandsharks of CISL, Canton Invaders and Chicago Power of the NPSL, the Baton Rouge Bombers of EISL, and the Utah Freezz of WISL. In addition, he played with the Utah Blitzz that won the D3 USL National Championship in 2001.
As a coach, he has held many positions including: former Club Director for Utah Soccer Alliance and Jackson Hole Youth Soccer, State Technical Director for Wyoming, Head Coach for the PDL team Ogden Outlaws, and Camp Director and Reserve Trainer for Real Salt Lake.
One of Coach Karas’ passion’s is to learn about soccer and this passion has inspired travels around the world. He has spent time learning and observing with clubs including: Ajax, PSV, Harlaam, and Heracles in Holland, Chelsea, Birmingham, and Wolverhampton in England, Barcelona in Spain, AC Milan, Cheivo Verona, and Atalanta in Italy, and last year spent time in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon and Benefica.
He currently works with several professional and collegiate players during the off-season to get them ready for their upcoming seasons.
Coach Karas has received several coaching licenses including USSF A License, NSCAA International Premier (received in England), NSCAA Director of Coaching Diploma, USSF National Youth License, and USSF National Goalkeeping License.
In his spare time, Coach Karas enjoys fly fishing, hiking with his dogs, cooking and watching soccer.
Dominic Militello: Assistant Coach for the University of Utah Men's Soccer
Coach Dominic Militello’s Accomplishments:
- University of Utah Men’s Club Assistant Soccer Coach (Salt Lake City, Utah)
- Cottonwood High School Men’s Head Soccer Coach (Murray, Utah)
- Cottonwood High School Women’s Head Soccer Coach (Murray, Utah)
- UYSA ODP Soccer Coach
- Utah Salt Ratz Men’s Premier Soccer League Head Coach and General Manager (Sandy, Utah)
- Waterford High School Head Coach – 2 Time State Champions (Sandy, Utah)
- Palos Verdes High School Freshman and Sophomore Coach for two years (California)
After an incredibly successful time playing Division 1 soccer at the University of Las Vegas, and professional athletic career, Coach Dominic struggled to enter the job force. Not knowing anything about the job search landscape, or how to manage a professional working career, Dominic Mitiello almost lost his family, friends, and finances. This period of time in his life taught him more than he realized at the time and he came out if it armed with new ideas, new perspectives, and most importantly, with a new job search process into the hidden market that helped him land the kind of job he had always wanted. After some time, Dominic decided to document his journey and started sharing the empowering strategies with other former collegiate/former professional athletes and eventually with executives and senior executives around the country and the world, with amazing results!
Wesley Spargo: Athletic Trainer for the University of Utah Men’s Soccer
Wesley Spargo is the team’s Physiotherapist and head of high performance. He has been an integral part of the team since January 2019. By maximizing the performance of each player on the team, and providing consultation, counseling, education, and preventative strategies, Wesley is able to help manage each players health, wellbeing, and injury status.
Wesley graduated from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, with a Bachelor in Health Sciences/Master of Physiotherapy Practice in 2017. He later became a registered Physiotherapist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association. He is an avid learner and continues to update his education every year.
Wesley is a national level athlete. He competed as a student-athlete at Westminster College in 2015-2016 on a track scholarship. Wesley became the school’s first silver medalist in NCAA history at the Rock Mountain Athletic Conference, RMAC, championships in 2015-2016. Wesley’s finest athletic achievement was placing third in Australia as a junior in the 400m Hurdles.
With over ten years of experience, Wesley has a deep passion for sport and human performance, with success as both a track coach and strength and conditioning coach. Wesley has extensive experience working with athletes, managing their injuries and getting them on track to perform at their best. His special interest in physiotherapy are managing sports injuries, in particular, hip and groin pain. Wesley currently works privately, helping the local community to perform at their best, no matter what age or goal.
Outside of work, Wesley loves to travel and always has his next trip planned out.
Fun fact: Wesley is also a qualified barista and will tell you that his flat white is the best in Salt Lake!