Registration for the 2017 Whitecaps FC Showcase is now open at whitecapsfc.com/showcase, with early bird registration ending next Thursday, December 1.

Over 150 scouts from various schools across Canada and the United States will be in attendance at the 2017 Whitecaps FC Showcase presented by Sport Chek. The tournament runs April 14-16 at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey with 100 elite teams, including boys and girls ages U-15 to U-18 competing over the weekend.

Jeff Freeman, associate head coach at the University of Illinois said of the 2016 Showcase:

“The University of Illinois has had some success recruiting out of Vancouver in the past, and the 2016 Vancouver Whitecaps Showcase was the perfect opportunity for Illinois Soccer to make that connection again. The quality of the event, the facilities, the staff, and most importantly the quality of the players made it the ideal showcase for us to recruit at. It can be hard for college coaches to find that many athletes from Canada and beyond all at the same event. The Whitecaps Showcase did exactly that. The event was very organized and absolutely worth our time and investment to go. Vancouver is a gorgeous city that is easy to get in and out of and the weather there is predictable. We will definitely be attending again in 2017 and beyond!”

The University of Illinois is a member of the prestigious Big Ten Conference that includes 2015 NCAA women’s soccer champs Penn State, as well as Ohio State, Michigan and other mid-west powers. Former Whitecaps FC women’s team member and long-time Canadian World Cup & Olympic Team member Emily Zurrer (Crofton, BC) played for Illinois where she earned All-American and All-Big Ten Conference honours.

The Showcase will also feature Collegiate Education Player Workshops, with participants being able to purchase tickets to that weekend’s Whitecaps FC MLS match, and the tournament also features Whitecaps FC Residency and Girls Elite REX matches.

Interested teams are encouraged to register quickly as the tournament sold out in both 2015 and 2016. Registration for the tournament is now open at whitecapsfc.com/showcase, with early bird registration ending on December 1.