Vancouver Whitecaps FC, in collaboration with the City of Richmond, are bringing their new National Combine to Richmond April 4 to 7. Over 400 identified youth players in the Whitecaps FC BMO Academy System coming from eight provinces across the country, along with over 70 university scouts, will arrive on-site at Minoru Park as the players will showcase their on-field skills with the goal of securing a potential spot in the Whitecaps FC full-time academy program and gain traction with universities looking to sign their next Canadian talent. In addition players will be involved in daily development workshops with both Whitecaps FC and Canadian national team staff.
University scouts will arrive in town from across Canada and the United States representing seven provinces and 23 states. U Sports schools from as far as Memorial University in Newfoundland along with major institutions from Nova Scotia, Ontario, and all of the western provinces including all of the major BC post-secondary schools. Major athletic powers such as Notre Dame, Univ. of Florida, Univ. of Michigan, Texas A&M, Syracuse Univ., along with Ivy League’s Princeton Univ. are part of over 30 NCAA Div.1 programs joining.
“We are looking forward to building this event as it supports the goals and dreams all of our academy players across the country. It brings the added excitement to each game having a large amount of scouts at top universities from all regions of North America along with our club's professional staff and youth national team coaches on-site. We know the players and their coaches will be ready to shine,” notes Ryan Clark, Whitecaps FC Manager of Collegiate Transition and ID events.
The action begins at Minoru turf fields Monday, April 4 with training for all squads between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT, and games running daily April 5 to 7 with kickoffs on all three fields between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. PT.
