Vancouver Whitecaps FC are busy preparing for the 2010 season, with club staff currently attending various events in Florida and Pennsylvania.
Having returned from a well-deserved holiday break with his family in Europe, men's team head coach
Teitur Thordarson
is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi and the club's director of professional teams Greg Anderson for the Major League Soccer (MLS) Player Combine. Starting today and running through to next Tuesday, the trio will watch an elite group of 75 MLS prospects be put through their paces ahead of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday.
Whitecaps chief operating officer Rachel Lewis and the club's director of event management Hillary Campbell are also in Fort Lauderdale attending the North American Soccer League's (NASL) three-day Annual General Meeting that began on Thursday. This week, the NASL joined the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and the United Soccer Leagues (USL) in forming a new Division 2 professional soccer league for the 2010 season.
With Vancouver MLS 2011 on the horizon, the Whitecaps will also have a presence at this year's MLS SuperDraft. Anderson, Lenarduzzi, and Thordarson will travel from the Player Combine in Florida to Philadelphia, where they will take in Thursday's proceedings at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Meanwhile, members of the men's team squad will return to Vancouver on Monday to resume their off-season training program. The players will be working on their strength and conditioning next week before starting on-field training sessions for the new season the week after. On Sunday, January 24, the men's team coaching staff will conduct player fitness assessments.
Whitecaps 2010 season tickets are now on sale. Season tickets include all men’s and women's team regular season and playoff home matches at Swangard Stadium, Nutrilite Canadian Championship home matches against Toronto FC and Montreal Impact, as well as priority listing for Vancouver MLS 2011 in BC Place. For more information on the 2010 season ticket packages, call 604.669.WAVE (9283) or click here
.
