VANCOUVER, B.C. – When Fresno FC welcomes its first additions from new MLS partner Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 early next year, the newcomers to the 2018 USL expansion club will be joining someone in Frank Yallop whose own career took off under similar circumstances.

The 1,000-mile trek south down Interstate-5 isn’t quite as far as Yallop’s move to Ipswich Town in England from British Columbia, but the Foxes’ General Manager is hoping the young VWFC standouts will get the same experience he did to start a career that saw Yallop make more than 400 professional appearances and represent Canada 52 times.

“It’s everything,” Yallop told WhitecapsFC.com in a recent Q&A. “You learn about yourself because you've got to get on with it, and grow up, and mix in, and fight for your position. It’s going to make them grow up quickly, make them take responsibility. This is a perfect scenario where we’re taking them out of their comfortable environment, we’ll put them into a pro team that we know we want to win, and those players are going to come along for the ride.

“If they’re good enough and enjoy being a professional, being away from home, living in another city, and working with full professional men, we’ll find out if they can sink or swim. I think that’s what [Whitecaps FC Head Coach] Carl [Robinson] wants to find out, what these players are capable of. Some of them are going to surprise us, they're going to stand up and be counted and that’s what they need right now.”