This coming weekend will be one of the busiest to date for Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency teams, as they participate in the 2012 Whitecaps FC College Showcase at Surrey’s Newton Athletic Park, including the first ever Residency triple-header on Saturday.
“The Whitecaps FC College Showcase is a fantastic event to organize and be a part of,” said Richard Grootscholten, Whitecaps FC technical director and head coach. “It will be great for us as coaches to watch other teams in the tournament, and it will also be great for them to watch us and see what our standard is.”
U-14
The U-14 Residency squad will be the busiest of the three teams this weekend with matches on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. First up is a match against visiting Calgary South West United at 3 p.m. on Friday before playing EA SPORTS BC Soccer Premier League club Surrey United U-15 at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and finishing their participation in the showcase with a Sunday encounter against Calgary-based National Sports Development Soccer Club at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday. On Monday, the U-14 squad will play an additional match against Internazionale SC at Simon Fraser University.
“After a short break we’re looking forward to continuing to hammer in our style of play in the Residency program with confident, creative play,” said Bart Choufour, U-14 Residency head coach. “It will be a great weekend of matches to mix and match our group and show the quality of our program, while also having the opportunity to scout other matches.”
U-18
The U-18 Residency squad will look to build on their two-match home winning streak at Newton Athletic Park when they take the field against De Anza Force U-17/18 in United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) action at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Grootscholten’s squad will nearly be at full strength and will look to continue their unbeaten run at home. “There will be many people there; fans, coaches, and other teams, so it always nice to play in front of a crowd,” said Grootscholten. “It will be a tough match, as we are playing a very good team, so we will need absolute focus and concentration to maintain our winning mentality.”
U-16
The U-16 Residency squad will look to extend their four-match winning streak when they take on De Anza Force U-15/16 in the finale of the triple-header at 2 p.m. PT on Saturday.
With six wins in their past seven matches, the young ‘Caps have been improving each match and will be eager to keep up their strong play. “The U-16 team has been progressing well,” said Grootscholten. “They’ve been listening to what we’ve been telling them, so that has been pleasing to see.”
Following this weekend, the U-18 and U-16 Residency squads return to USSDA action the following Saturday, March 31, against Pateadores back at Newton Athletic Park. The U-18 team kicks things off against Pateadores U-17/18 at 11:30 a.m. PT, followed by the U-16 squad against Pateadores U-15/16 at 2 p.m. PT.
