Five Whitecaps Receive Call
Published on November 13, 2008 under USL First Division (USL-1)
Vancouver Whitecaps News Release
VANCOUVER, BC - Vancouver Whitecaps FC, in conjunction with the Canadian Soccer Association, announced today that striker Randy Edwini-Bonsu and defender/midfielder Adam Straith have been called up to Canada's U-20 men's national team. In addition, Kevin Cobby, Coulton Jackson, and Russell Teibert have all received call-ups to Canada's U-17 men's national team.
Edwini-Bonsu and Straith join Canada U-20's after a successful first year as members of the inaugural Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency team. The pair will be part of the U-20 squad for two friendly matches in Switzerland later this month, as Canada prepare for next year's CONCACAF Under-20 Championship in Trinidad & Tobago. Former Whitecaps men's team head coach Tony Fonseca will be in charge of the squad.
Born in Kumasi, Ghana, and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Edwini-Bonsu's previous international experience was with Canada's U-17 national team, where he earned 15 caps and scored two goals between April 2006 and May 2007.
Edwini-Bonsu, 18-years-old, made four regular season substitute appearances in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division with the Whitecaps men's team in 2008. The 5-foot-5, 140-pound forward made his Whitecaps senior team debut in his hometown of Edmonton on May 13, in the 2-1 international friendly win over Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy.
With Whitecaps Residency, Edwini-Bonsu was named the Most Valuable Player at the INSEL-CUP junior international tournament in Germany last May before earning a place in the USL Premier Development League (PDL) All-Western Conference Team after scoring nine goals and recording two assists in 15 PDL regular season matches during the summer. His five goals in three playoff games helped Whitecaps Residency reach the PDL semifinals.
Straith, who was born in Vancouver but raised in Victoria, BC, was also a prominent member of Canada's U-17 squad in 2006 and 2007, having earned 16 international caps.
The six-foot-two, 190-pound centre back played 12 matches for 1080 minutes with the Whitecaps PDL team before he was loaned to Germany's FC Energie Cottbus U-19 Junior Bundesliga team for the 2008-09 season. After not playing a minute in Cottbus' first three matches, the 18-year-old has since started in the last six matches as a midfielder, where he has scored two goals.
Meanwhile, Canadian U-17 national team head coach Sean Fleming named Cobby, Jackson, and Teibert in a 21-player squad that will travel to Mexico for a series of preparatory matches ahead of next year's CONCACAF Under-17 Championship. Between November 21 to December 3, Canada will play five friendly matches against top club sides from Mexico.
Midfielders Cobby, 16, and Teibert, 15, joined Whitecaps Residency in August after spells with Toronto FC Academy's U-16 side and the Ontario provincial team program. Before his most recent call-up, Cobby participated in national team camps with Canada's U-15 side in 2006, and the U-16 national team in early 2008. As captain, Cobby, a native of Brampton, Ontario, led Ontario U-14's to a Canadian All-Star Championship title, while Teibert, a native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, played for the Ontario provincial team from the U-13 to U-16 age group levels between 2004 and 2008.
Jackson, 16, joins Canada's U-17 squad after making significant progress in the Whitecaps Prospects program. The Surrey, BC, native, who can play as a striker or as an attacking midfielder, joined the Whitecaps Delta Prospects Academy in early September. The forward is also a member of the Delta WFC side that currently plays in the Men's Premier Division of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League. Last March, Jackson helped the Whitecaps U-16 Boys Prospects team to the semifinals of the Las Vegas College Showcase.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency and Delta Prospects Academy are full-time programs dedicated to developing North America's top youth players in Vancouver. The programs allow elite youth players from U-16 to U-19 to achieve professional opportunities with the Whitecaps men's team and world-class European clubs using the European club model of identification, development, and placement.
USL First Division Stories from November 13, 2008
- Recognition Experts to Handle Rhinos Merchandise - Rochester Rhinos
- Five Whitecaps Receive Call - Vancouver Whitecaps
- Carolina RailHawks Announce New Head Coach - North Carolina FC
- Battery honored by the Sustainability Institute - Charleston Battery
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