By Simon Fudge/whitecapsfc.com
Sunday night saw another season of Vancouver Whitecaps FC soccer come to an end, and with it, a very special era in the club's history.
Defeat to Puerto Rico Islanders concluded the 'Caps time as a second division club in North America, as well as a 24-year memorable tenure at Swangard Stadium. Though the Blue and White had desires to end this chapter of their history as champions of the USSF D-2 Pro League, the club now looks forward to a new and exciting era in Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2011.
With MLS in mind, the 2010 season offered Whitecaps FC some unique challenges - most notably a huge turnover of players during the summer transfer window. Nonetheless, the 'Caps were not far away from claiming silverware this month. "We fell a little bit short of getting to the championship final this season, though if one of Terry Dunfield's shots went in on Sunday, we would be talking about being in a final right now," Whitecaps FC president Bob Lenarduzzi told whitecapsfc.com. "We suggested at the start of the season that we would be on parallel paths. We wanted to do as much as we possibly could to win a 2010 championship, while at the same time, preparing ourselves as best we could for our MLS startup in 2011."
For Lenarduzzi, a big objective for the 'Caps this season was to build a foundation that included the club's emerging talent. "For us, an exciting area of growth is that we have a promising base of young players," he said. "At this stage, we don't know which of those players are going to realize that potential. However, it's numbers game, and I think we've given ourselves a pretty good chance of seeing those players blossom by putting them in the right environment this year."
With the 2010 season at an end, the work towards next year and MLS continues unabated. There are plans for a pre-Christmas training camp, while the identification of talent for Vancouver's MLS roster remains an ongoing process. "We're continuing to do what we have been doing, but it won't be like any other off-season that we have experienced before," Lenarduzzi said. "We're going to be actively working to prepare the current players that we feel have a chance of making the roster in 2011 from a fitness, technical, and competitive perspective. Next month, the MLS Expansion Draft will also provide us with 10 MLS-ready players, so we have been busy scouting all the MLS rosters in order to anticipate which players will be protected by their clubs, and which players will be available. As well, we've continued to scout globally for potential MLS players, as the January transfer window gives us another opportunity to make signings."
Though a new beginning may have arrived sooner than desired for Whitecaps FC, what lies ahead for the Blue and White could prove to be the most exciting chapter yet.
