Meet the Whitecaps Residency
By: Lee | May 23rd, 2009
For those of you new to the Whitecaps, they have one of the best development programs on the continent. They are the only club in Canada and the United States that has a residency program (where players train full time), paid through the generous pockets of Greg Kerfoot. The team plays in the U-23 USL Premier Development League, has gone on tours in Europe and Asia, and has played in prestigious youth tournaments.
The program is lead by Thomas Niendorf. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because he is the same guy who discovered Owen Hargreaves for Bayern Munich. This guy knows how to spot young talent, and the residency program in its short history has already earned many accolades. Last year, the team made it to the PDL semifinals, beating teams with much older players, and losing to the eventual champions Thunder Bay Chill. More recently, they competed in the Dallas Cup, a prestigious youth tournament featuring the best youth teams from clubs like AC Milan and Manchester City. The team made it to the finals, beating the likes of River Plate and Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Whitecaps Residency has already paid dividends for the first team. Seventeen-year-old Ethan Gage is a regular and contributed to the Caps’ championship run last season. There are also several residency players on-loan to (former) Bundesliga club Energie Cottbus. Many more players are expected to make the jump to the first team soon. All this makes me very hopeful that the Whitecaps will be competitive when they enter MLS in 2011 and dominate in the years to come.
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