The Whitecaps London Youth Academy Centre has produced its first Vancouver Whitecaps FC prospect, as Ethan Gopaul, 17, recently earned a spot on the Major League Soccer (MLS) club’s under-18 residency team. In doing so, he became the first London area player to receive the honour.
Gopaul, who departed for Vancouver in mid-August to train with the team’s top prospects, first earned the chance to showcase his skills in front of Whitecaps FC brass last November after he was named London Youth Academy Player of the Month. That trip to Vancouver didn’t go as well as planned, but the teen worked hard upon returning to the Forest City and helped the London Youth Whitecaps win their first Ontario U-18 Indoor Cup. That earned him a second chance, and now Gopaul finds himself training and studying full-time in the Whitecaps’ residency program.
“I’m really fortunate to have this opportunity,” Gopaul told the Londoner last month. “I want to make use of this opportunity, I don’t want to let it slip away. At the residency, I want to keep going up, I’m going to keep going to the next level, I’m not going to let this opportunity waste away.”
The goal now for Gopaul is to continue to improve and earn a spot on the Whitecaps’ professional teams in the United Soccer League (USL) and MLS.
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