Vancouver Whitecaps News Release - www.whitecapsfc.com
Monday, November 2, 2009
VANCOUVER, BC -- Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced today that defender/midfielder Ethan Gage will join the U-23 side of German Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg for a trial in early November.
Gage, 18, heads overseas for second try-out with a German club in four months. Last August, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound native of Cochrane, Alberta, spent two weeks with Eintracht U-23 side.
As one of the first players to join Whitecaps Residency for the program's inaugural year in July 2007, Gage's progress saw him make his men's team debut as a 17-year-old when he came on as a second-half substitute during a 2-0 defeat at Charleston Battery on August 3, 2008. He then went on to make 10 first-team appearances for 445 minutes of action last season, including four appearances in the Whitecaps successful playoff run to last season's United Soccer Leagues First Division (USL-1) championship title.
Last season, Gage has played a more prominent role in the men's team, having made 21 appearances - including 12 starts - in both USL-1 and the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship for 1,056 minutes of action. He scored his first-ever men's team goal on May 27, as his match-winning strike gave the Whitecaps a 1-0 home win over Montreal in the Canadian championship.
As a member of Whitecaps Residency, Gage made trips to Germany, Japan, and the United States between October 2007 and April 2009. This included two visits to the prestigious Dallas Cup, where the Residency team took part in the U-19 Super Group portion of the tournament. At Dallas Cup XXX this past April, Gage helped the Residency team to the U-19 Super Group final as their starting centre back. This included an appearance in the 2-0 semifinal win over Eintracht Frankfurt's U-19 Junior Bundesliga side on April 10.
Last March, Gage was one of seven Whitecaps players to be named in Canada's 20-player squad for the 2009 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Trinidad & Tobago. Gage was a second-half substitute in the 2-0 win over Mexico on March 9 before earning a start in the 2-1 defeat to Costa Rica on March 11.
Whitecaps Start Early for 2010
Vancouver Whitecaps FC men's team will begin preparations for the 2010 season by starting an offseason training program this week.
After recently completing their 2009 United Soccer Leagues First Division (USL-1) campaign, Teitur Thordarson's side will return from a short break and begin preparations for the new campaign by taking part in a winter training program from Monday, November 2, to Friday, December 4.
Whitecaps men's team players will take part in morning on-field training sessions at the Whitecaps Training Centre on the campus of Simon Fraser University, as well as strength and conditions sessions at Burnaby 8 Rinks during the five-week training spell. Players and staff will then take a break for the remainder of December and the holiday season before returning in the New Year for the next phase of their off-season training program on Monday, January 11, 2010.
"This training program will begin our preparations for next season," said men's team head coach Teitur Thordarson. "One big part of preparing for next season in a better way is to extend the season of the players. Instead of giving them several months off, we will work on their fitness for five weeks from early November until early December. We will work from Monday to Friday, with a couple of days in the week seeing us do double sessions. This will give our players a very good physical foundation and will hopefully allow us to start next season on a different physical level. Last year, we extended the season from six to eight months. Now, we are taking the last step to making the season all year round with our team."
