Utah Royals announce the hiring of seven technical staff members

What began as a sprinkle of hiring announcements — a coach hiring here, an assistant coach there — has turned into a flash flood.

Utah Royals FC has completed the hiring of its technical staff, the team announced Friday, revealing seven new members of the organization. Among them were managing director Stephanie Lee, assistant coach Amy LePeilbet and head athletic trainer Emily Fortunato. They join already-announced coach Laura Harvey and assistant Scott Parkinson.

Lee, who worked with Harvey, Scott and Real Salt Lake general manager Craig Waibel to identify and hire the rest of the technical staff, previously worked for Seattle Reign FC as the Director of Soccer and Player Operations. Before that she served as the Team Administration Manager and Camp and Community Relations Manager for the club. She now follows Harvey to Utah after three years of working together in Seattle.

LePeilbet, a retired U.S. women’s national team defender, also played for FC Kansas City in its 2014 and 2015 NWSL championship seasons. She retired at the end of 2015 and has coached for the Utah Avalanche Girls Soccer club in Salt Lake City since.

Fortunato is making the switch back to soccer from basketball, coming to the Royals from the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. She first worked in the NWSL for the Washington Spirit in 2013-2014 while also serving as a women’s basketball and softball athletic trainer at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

The Royals also announced the hiring of goalkeepers coach Jason Batty, a former New Zealand men’s national team keeper. He has coached at several levels, from Dartmouth College to the San Jose Earthquakes. Utah added Melissa Terry, a former U.S. Soccer psychologist for the U-16, 17 and 18 youth national teams, as its sports performance coach. Karly Cebula was brought on as the Utah Royals FC equipment manager, and Philippe Tabet as the team administrator.