More than 450 of the best youth soccer players in Canada will descend onto Newton Athletic Park this coming week for the 2019 Whitecaps FC Academy Centre Combine.
“We’re fortunate to have built some incredible relationships to collaborate across the country with a common goal to drive the sport forward,” said Marinos Papageorgopoulos, Whitecaps FC Academy Centre director and head coach. “This combine is another great opportunity for these players to experience a high performance environment as they embark on the next steps of their careers through our club, their provincial associations, and the Canada Soccer pathway.”
23 teams will participate from the club’s provincial and regional partners in:
- British Columbia
- Alberta
- Saskatchewan
- Manitoba
- Ontario
- Nova Scotia
- Newfoundland & Labrador
- Prince Edward Island
The event will take place from Sunday, March 17 through Saturday, March 23, featuring 2005 and 2006-born players in the U-13/14 age groups.
As part of the event, players will be evaluated and identified for intake into the
Girls Elite REX program
and the
Whitecaps FC Boys MLS Academy
. Players will listen to presentations by:
- Rhian Wilkinson, Whitecaps FC & BC Soccer Girls Elite REX head coach
- Craig Dalrymple, Whitecaps FC player development & recruitment director
- Marc Dos Santos, Whitecaps FC MLS head coach
- Bob Lenarduzzi, Whitecaps FC president
Additionally, more than 50 high performance coaches from across the club’s academy centre network will listen to a presentation from first team assistant coach Phillip Dos Santos on the Whitecaps FC game model.
After a series of matches throughout the week, the combine will conclude with players selected for a final Game of Distinction.
For the latest from the combine, follow
@WhitecapsYouth
on Twitter.
