The coming week will be an important one for two of Vancouver Whitecaps women’s prospect players.Midfielder Monica Lam-Feist and right rullback Natalie Boyd have been selected in a 20-player training camp squad by Canadian U-17 national team head coach Bryan Rosenfeld. The Surrey-based pair will leave on Friday evening for the team’s third camp of 2007 in Coral Springs, Florida.Starting this Saturday, the one-week camp will include three friendly games against the United States Region IV development team on Monday, the USA U-15 national side next Wednesday, and Chile’s U-16 national squad on Friday, November 23.As U-17 national team captain, Lam-Feist (pictured) will be a familiar face to the rest of the squad, as the talented 16-year-old was involved in the previous two camps, while Boyd is one of five new faces to be brought in by Rosenfeld. The defender will hope to impress the coaching staff, as Canada make early preparations towards qualifying for next year’s inaugural FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.After helping the Whitecaps Reserves to an undefeated regular-season finish in the Pacific Coast Soccer League, Lam-Feist is keen to have a good camp with the national team. “I’m really excited,” she told whitecapsfc.com. “We will have our first international matches as a team down in Florida, so we will see how we match up, which should be good.”Both Lam-Feist and Boyd should be ready for the rigours of the coming week. The pair have been training up to six times-a-week with Whitecaps women’s team head coach Bob Birarda and youth development coach Jesse Symons. It is through the Whitecaps off-season training program that Boyd has earned an opportunity to be part of the U-17 national team set-up. “It’s a chance or me to play with the best players from Canada in my age group,” Boyd said of the upcoming trip. “It’s also a chance to play some international games and work with coach Bryan Rosenfeld.”Symons is delighted that Boyd has worked her way into the Canadian team program after representing British Columbia U-17’s in the summer. He feels the new Whitecaps winter training set-up will help the pair during their time in Florida. “Our program is similar to the Men’s Residency in that the girls are no longer with their club teams,” Symons revealed. “We’ve pulled the top 11 or 12 prospects out of their clubs, so they can train under Bob and myself more, as well as alongside some of the women’s first-team players.”The Whitecaps wish both Monica and Natalie the very best of luck during the U-17 national team camp in Florida.
