Whitecaps FC Academy (sponsor name Whitecaps FC BMO Academy) is the youth system of the professional soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It fields a men's and women's team in the semi-professional League1 British Columbia.

Whitecaps FC Academy
Founded2007
Stadium
Head coach
  • Dan Lenarduzzi (men)
  • Katie Collar (women)
LeagueLeague1 British Columbia (L1BC)
2024
  • L1BC (men), 3rd of 7
  • Playoffs: Semi-finals
  • L1BC (women), 1st of 7
  • Playoffs: Champions

Men's

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The men's academy is officially named the Vancouver Whitecaps FC MLS Academy. It is a full-time, fully funded, player development program.[1] Originally known as the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency programs, they changed their name in 2018 to the Whitecaps FC Academy.[2] They have affiliations with youth soccer clubs across Canada, forming part of the Whitecaps FC BMO Academy.[3]

Seasons

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Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs Top scorer Ref
2022 League1 British Columbia 7 4–4–4 3rd did not qualify Gurman Sangha (6) [4]
2023 8 5–7–2 3rd Champions Michael Hennessy (7) [4]
2024 7 5–4–3 3rd Semi-finals 3 players (4) [4]

Women's

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The women's academy is officially named the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite Academy. In 2015, the Canadian Soccer Association partnered with the BC Soccer Association and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC to launch its regional EXCEL program which will be run as part of the Whitecaps FC Academy.[5]

In 2021, it was announced that the program would join the semi-professional League1 British Columbia as a founding franchise for the 2022 season.[6][7] Their home games will take place at Ken Woods Field at the National Soccer Development Centre.[8] They played their debut match on May 22, defeating the Victoria Highlanders 5-1.[9]

During the 2022 regular season, the Whitecaps managed to finish second in the regular season standings and qualified for the Championship final, despite many of their university age players having to depart the team before the end of the season, leaving them with a roster composed of 14-17 year old players.[10][11] In the Championship Final, the Whitecaps Girls defeated Varsity FC to win the inaugural women's League1 British Columbia title.[12] In May 2023, the team participated in the 2023 Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup, winning the title.[13] In the 2023 L1BC season, they won the league double, capturing the regular season title and the playoff championship, advancing to the Women's Inter-Provincial Championship,[14] which they also won to become the overall League1 Canada champions.[15] In 2024, they once again won the League1 BC title to advance to the Inter-Provincial Championship again,[16] winning the overall League1 Canada title for the second consecutive year.[17]

Seasons

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Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs National / continental Ref
2022 League1 British Columbia 7 8–1–3 2nd Champions withdrew [18]
2023 8 11–1–2 1st Champions Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup Champions [18]
Inter-Provincial Championship Champions
2024 7 10–2–0 1st Champions Inter-Provincial Championship Champions
CONCACAF W Champions Cup Group stage

Professional players from the Whitecaps FC Academy

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As of March 15, 2023[19]
Name Most recent pro club Birth year First team
appearances
  Cornelius Stewart   Abahani Limited Dhaka 1989 21
  Evan Taylor   Chapelton Maroons 1989 -
  Philippe DaviesRET (HG)   Ottawa Fury FC 1990 34
  Randy Edwini-BonsuRET   FC Edmonton 1990 36
  Dever Orgill   Bodrumspor 1990 16
  Kyle Porter   FC Edmonton 1990 5
  Alex SemenetsRET   FC Edmonton 1990 3
  Keithy SimpsonRET   Dunbeholden F.C. 1990 -
  Adam StraithRET   Hansa Rostock 1990 -
  Simon Thomas   Tromsø IL 1990 1
  La'Vere Corbin-Ong   Johor Darul Ta'zim 1991 0
  Ethan Gage   Caroline Springs George Cross FC 1991 42
  Julien Latendresse-Levessque   BSG Chemie Leipzig 1991 -
  Sahil SandhuRET   Whitecaps FC 2 1991 -
  Joseph Gyau   Degerfors IF 1992 -
  Kemar Lawrence   Minnesota United 1992 -
  Brian Sylvestre (HG)   Miami FC 1992 0
  Russell TeibertRET (HG)   Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1992 301
  Charlie Trafford   Cavalry FC 1992 -
  Caleb ClarkeRET (HG)   FC Amberg 1993 2
  Ben Fisk   Vancouver FC 1993 -
  Callum Irving   Vancouver FC 1993 -
  Ben McKendryRET (HG)   Atlético Ottawa 1993 7
  Charles RenkenRET   Seattle Sounders 2 1993 -
  Ethen Sampson (HG)   Black Leopards F.C. 1993 7
  Bryce AldersonRET (HG)   Fortuna Düsseldorf II 1994 2
  Paris Gee   Vancouver FC 1994 -
  Sean Melvin (HG)   Pacific FC 1994 0
  Daniel Stanese   VfR Aalen 1994 -
  Sam Adekugbe (HG)   Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1995 43
  Jackson FarmerRET   Whitecaps FC 2 1995 -
  Carlos PatiñoRET   Cavalry FC 1995 -
  Mitch PirauxRET   Whitecaps FC 2 1995 -
  Nicholas PrasadRET   Bischofswerdaer FV 08 1995 -
  Chris SerbanRET   Cavalry FC 1995 -
  Nolan WirthRET   Pacific FC 1995 -
  Elijah Adekugbe   York United FC 1996 -
  Marco Bustos (HG)   IFK Värnamo 1996 13
  Marco Carducci (HG)   Cavalry FC 1996 2
  Alex ComsiaRET   North Carolina FC 1996 -
  Kianz Froese (HG)   Wehen Wiesbaden 1996 24
  Jordan Haynes   Valour FC 1996 0
  Ali Musse   Cavalry FC 1996 -
  Marcello Polisi   Valour FC 1997 -
  Dario Zanatta   Pacific FC 1997 -
  Gloire Amanda   Whitecaps FC 2 1998 0
  Matthew Baldisimo   York United FC 1998 0
  Terran Campbell   Forge FC 1998 -
  Kadin Chung   Vancouver FC 1998 -
  Duwayne Ewart   Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1998 -
  Tomi Fagbongbe   Viljandi Tulevik 1998 -
  Liam Fraser   FC Dallas 1998 -
  Thomas Gardner   FC Edmonton 1998 -
  Ndzemdzela Langwa   HFX Wanderers FC 1998 -
  Patrick Metcalfe (HG)   Fredrikstad FK 1998 21
  David Norman Jr. (HG)   Vancouver FC 1998 1
  Matteo Polisi   Anagennisi Epanomi 1998 -
  Daniel Sagno   Glenorchy Knights FC 1998 -
  Munir SalehRET   York9 FC 1998 -
  Zach Verhoven   Vancouver FC 1998 -
  Nicolas Apostol   Anagennisi Epanomi 1999 -
  Theo Bair (HG)   AJ Auxerre 1999 39
  Alan Camacho   Whitecaps FC 2 1999 -
  Jonas Häkkinen   Cork City FC 1999 -
  Joel HarrisonRET   Whitecaps FC 2 1999 -
  Thomas Hasal (HG)   Los Angeles FC 1999 36
  Georges Mukumbilwa (HG)   Pacific FC 1999 1
  Noah Verhoeven   Valour FC 1999 -
  Michael Baldisimo (HG)   San Jose Earthquakes 2000 50
  Antony Caceres   FC Edmonton 2000 -
  Alphonso Davies (HG)   Bayern Munich 2000 81
  Gabriel Escobar   HFX Wanderers FC 2000 -
  Vasco Fry   Vancouver FC 2000 1
  José Hernandez   Cavalry FC 2000 -
  Alessandro Hojabrpour   Forge FC 2000 -
  Daniel Kaiser   Cavalry FC 2000 -
  Devin O'Hea   Pacific FC 2000 -
  Filip Rakic   Whitecaps FC 2 2000 -
  Jake Ruby   HFX Wanderers FC 2000 -
  Gurman Sangha   Crown Legacy FC 2000 -
  Jalen Watson   Toronto FC II 2000 -
  Isaac Boehmer (HG)   Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2001 8
  Cristian Campagna   FC Jazz 2001 -
  Chance Carter   FC Edmonton 2001 -
  T-Boy Fayia   FC Edmonton 2001 -
  Eryk Kobza   Cavalry FC 2001 -
  Ivan Mejia   Vancouver FC 2001 -
  Darlington Murasiranwa   Valour FC 2001 -
  Chris Lee   Whitecaps FC 2 2001 0
  Owen Antoniuk   Whitecaps FC 2 2002 -
  Amir Batyrev   PFC Sochi 2002 -
  Emiliano Brienza   Whitecaps FC 2 2002 1
  Carson Buschman-Dormond   Balzan F.C. 2002 -
  Brandon Cambridge   Charlotte FC 2002 -
  Simon Colyn (HG)   De Graafschap 2002 1
  Lucas Dasovic   Whitecaps FC 2 2002 -
  Matteo de Brienne   Atlético Ottawa 2002 -
  Gianfranco Facchineri (HG)   Valour FC 2002 0
  Eric Lajeunesse   Pacific FC 2002 -
  Simone Masi   Whitecaps FC 2 2002 -
  Chituru Odunze (HG)   Charlotte FC 2002 0
  Damiano Pecile (HG)   Vis Pesaro (on loan from Venezia FC) 2002 1
  Junior Agyekum   Atlético Ottawa 2003 -
  Ben Alexander   Whitecaps FC 2 2003 0
  Paul Amedume   Pacific FC 2003 -
  Emil Gazdov   Pacific FC 2003 -
  Kamron Habibullah (HG)   Sporting Kansas City II 2003 3
  Joe Hanson   Valour FC 2003 -
  Niko Sigur   HNK Hajduk Split 2003 -
  Muslim Umar   York United FC 2003 -
  Eric White   Whitecaps FC 2 2003 -
  Theo Afework   York United FC 2004 -
  Max Anchor (HG)   Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2004 1
  Elage Bah   Vancouver FC 2004 -
  Matteo Campagna (HG)   Vancouver FC 2004 1
  Alesandro Comita   ND Gorica 2004 -
  Brennen Fuerst   Whitecaps FC 2 2004 -
  Amir Ghasemi   Whitecaps FC 2 2004 -
  Jay Herdman   Cavalry FC (on loan from Whitecaps FC 2) 2004 1
  Finn Linder   Whitecaps FC 2 2004 1
  Joshué Ndakala   Whitecaps FC 2 2004 -
  Sydney Wathuta   Whitecaps FC 2 2004 -
  Edwin Espinal   Whitecaps FC 2 2005 -
  Mihail Gherasimencov   Whitecaps FC 2 2005 0
  Christian Greco-Taylor   Pacific FC 2005 -
  Niko Myroniuk   Cavalry FC 2005 -
  Cohen Park   Whitecaps FC 2 2005 -
  David Ajagbe   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Jeevan Badwal (HG)   Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2006 1
  Elijah Bean   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Cristiano Da Silva   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Aidan Fong   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Benjamin Lee   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Immanuel Mathe   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Alexander Milošević   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Amoni Thomas   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Kyler Vojvodic   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Sahai Williams   Whitecaps FC 2 2006 -
  Mateo Clark   Whitecaps FC 2 2007 -
  Luca Chen   Whitecaps FC 2 2007 -
  Rayan Elloumi   Whitecaps FC 2 2007 -
  Liam Mackenzie   Whitecaps FC 2 2007 0
  Anyole Peter   Whitecaps FC 2 2007 -
  Valter Sedin   Whitecaps FC 2 2007 -
  Johnny Selemani   Whitecaps FC 2 2007 -
  Grady McDonnell   Vancouver FC 2008 -
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References

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  1. ^ "Program Info". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  2. ^ "Residency program rebranded to Whitecaps FC Academy, rosters announced". Vancouver Whitecaps FC. September 4, 2018.
  3. ^ "Whitecaps FC BMO Academy Centres". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  4. ^ a b c "League1 British Columbia Standings". Canadian Soccer History Archive.
  5. ^ "Girls' Elite Academy". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  6. ^ "Canada Soccer Announces 2022 Club Competitions for National Development Centres". Canadian Soccer Association.
  7. ^ "League1BC welcomes the Vancouver Whitecaps as a founding License Holder". League1 British Columbia. October 22, 2021.
  8. ^ McColl, Michael (May 10, 2022). "The Grounds of League1 BC: Ken Woods Field, UBC, Vancouver – Home of Vancouver Whitecaps U19 and Girls Elite". Away from the Numbers.
  9. ^ Fossey, Maxim (May 22, 2022). "League1 BC: Women get the win, men earn a draw". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  10. ^ Fossey, Maxim (July 22, 2022). "League1 BC: 'Caps clinch a spot in the final!". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  11. ^ "'Caps excited for League1 BC final: "We saw what the young players were capable of"". Vancouver Whitecaps FC. July 29, 2022.
  12. ^ Fossey, Maxim (August 1, 2022). "Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite crowned League1 BC Finals champions!". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  13. ^ "Comeback Queens! A look back at the five trophies Whitecaps FC Girls Elite have won in the last year". Vancouver Whitecaps FC. August 8, 2023.
  14. ^ Mahmoudi, Nelson (August 6, 2023). "Cap-Italizing The Moment: Whitecaps Academies Claim Double L1BC Title". Northern Tribune.
  15. ^ "Inter-Provincial Championship: Girls Elite win national title!". Vancouver Whitecaps FC. August 13, 2023.
  16. ^ McGoldrick, Hayley (August 8, 2024). "L1C Women's Inter-Provincial Championship Preview: Whitecaps FC Girls Elite eye title defence". Canadian Premier League.
  17. ^ Vallejo, Felipe (August 11, 2024). "'Caps win second straight Women's Inter-Provincial Championship in a row". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  18. ^ a b "League1 British Columbia Women Standings". Canadian Soccer History Archive.
  19. ^ "Academy Alumni".