VANCOUVER, BC - With the U-18 Girls Elite team starting training today, Vancouver Whitecaps FC are pleased to announce that Carrie Taylor has been named Girls Elite manager and women's assistant head coach. As per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
In addition to assisting with the women's W-League team, Taylor will be in charge of growing the Whitecaps FC Girls Elite program. As such, her responsibilities will include coaching the U-18 Girls Elite team and developing players for the Whitecaps FC women's first team in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) W-League and for Canadian national teams. Taylor will also oversee plans for future expansion of the Girls Elite program, as well as the growth of training programs and services for females, including scholarship programs for aspiring female players.
“Carrie’s hiring reflects the club’s commitment and growth to female development and services,” said Dan Lenarduzzi, Whitecaps FC director of soccer development. “Her experience will be a great asset to our women's program and especially to our evolving Girls Elite program. We look forward to her contributions.”
Born in Flint, Michigan, Taylor holds the highest licensing in the United States, a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) ‘A’ Coaching License. Taylor also becomes one of only a handful of women to possess an ‘A’ Coaching License in Canada. She also holds a US Youth Soccer (USYS) National Youth Coaching License, and is one of only four women certified in the US to teach the National Youth License course.
“I am very excited and thankful to join a club like Whitecaps FC,” said Taylor. “The philosophies, standards and quality within the organization are second to none. The club’s commitment to their women's and girls’ elite programs is refreshing and revolutionary. I hope to lend my ideas and experience in order to establish the best girls and women's soccer program in North America.”
Taylor joins Whitecaps FC after concluding her time at United Futbol Club in South California, where she served as assistant director of coaching since 2010. She also coached the girls U-14 and U-17 teams, with her U-14 girls team winning the 2011 USYS President’s Cup national championship this past summer. In 2009, she was the director of operations and U-17 and U-18 head coach at Laguna Hills Eclipse. Prior to moving to California, Taylor served as the first full-time head soccer coach at College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 2005 until 2009, heading both the women's and men's programs. During her time at Mount St. Joseph, she won two Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) titles while being named HCAC Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2008. Taylor also previously served as assistant coach at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I schools Temple University (1997) and Xavier University (1999-2001).
During her playing career, Taylor played in the United States Women's Independent Soccer League (USWISL) with Columbus Ziggx (1996) and in the Women's United Soccer League (WUSL) with Kentucky Fillies (2000).
The Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite program is a funded player development program for U-14 to U-18 girls that will evolve over the next two years. Beginning in September 2011, Whitecaps FC will continue to offer a funded, full-time U-18 training development program for players who have been identified to move beyond community club soccer. As with previous years, players in the Girls Elite program will train and compete from September to July as full-time Whitecaps FC youth players. Included for the first time this fall will be a part-time seasonal training camp program for U-14 to U-16 girls, which will be integrated with the new EA Sports BC Soccer Premier League. Whitecaps FC aim to further grow the program for fall of 2012 by expanding the full-time training structure to U-14 and U-16 girls’ teams.
For more information on the Whitecaps FC Girls Elite program, visit club.whitecapsfc.com/youth/girlselite.
