The Canadian Soccer Association announced today that Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency goalkeeper Marco Carducci has been named the 2013 Canadian U-17 Player of the Year.
This is the second straight year Carducci has won the award, joining Whitecaps FC midfielders Bryce Alderson (2011 and 2010) and Russell Teibert (2009 and 2008) as two-time Canadian U-17 Players of the Year. A Whitecaps FC player has now won the award in six straight seasons.
Carducci, 17, finished first in voting ahead of Hanson Boakai (FC Edmonton) and Jordan Hamilton (Toronto FC Academy). Fellow Residency players Marco Bustos and Jordan Haynes were also nominated for the award. Voting was conducted by national team coaches (50 per cent) and Canadian clubs and coaches (50 per cent).
In 2013, Carducci won a bronze medal with Canada at the CONCACAF Men's Under-17 Championship, helping Canada qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Dubai. The Calgary native was Canada’s player of the match in a 2-2 draw with Austria in their World Cup opener.
The Canadian skipper also stood tall in a 1-1 draw with Iran the following match, in which the Middle Eastern side launched 23 shots towards the goal and 12 on target. In total, Carducci made eight appearances with the Canadian men’s U-17 side this past season.
At the club level, Carducci spent most of 2013 with Whitecaps FC’s U-16 Residency side. He started 19 matches and posted four clean sheets with the U-16s during their 2012-13 United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) campaign, before making the jump to Whitecaps FC’s U-18 squad this summer. So far this season, Carducci has posted a clean sheet in both of his USSDA appearances with the U-18s.
On the women’s side, Whitecaps FC Girls Elite defender Rachel Jones finished third in voting for the 2013 Canadian U-17 Player of the Year. Jones, who was the co-recipient of Whitecaps FC’s Most Promising Player award this past season, played every minute of every match at the recent CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship to help Canada qualify for the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
The North Vancouver native also played every minute of every match to help the ’Caps claim the Gothia Cup championship in Sweden and Team British Columbia win a gold medal at the 2013 Canada Games.
On Wednesday, Canada Soccer will announce the 2013 Canadian U-20 Players of the Year. Whitecaps FC defender Sam Adekugbe and striker Caleb Clarke were both nominated, while Teibert was nominated for the 2013 BMO Canadian Player of the Year, which will be announced on Thursday.
CANADIAN U-17 PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
2013 - Marco Carducci & Sura Yekka
2012 - Marco Carducci & Ashley Lawrence
2011 – Bryce Alderson & Ashley Lawrence
2010 – Bryce Alderson & Diamond Simpson
2009 – Russell Teibert & Abigail Raymer
2008 – Russell Teibert & Monica Lam-Feist
2007 – Olivier Lacoste-Lebuis & Monica Lam-Feist
