It’s been a tough 2014 for Bryce Alderson.
Vancouver Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson earned a reputation this season for giving his young players an opportunity to play and prove themselves. Alderson, however, didn’t figure into Robinson’s plans.
The 20-year-old native of Kitchener, Ont., was limited to a pair of appearances in the Canadian Club Championship, and had to watch from the stands as the Whitecaps finished fifth in the Western Conference and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
Last week, the club announced that it decided not to exercise its contract option on Alderson, parting ways with the youngster after three seasons—in all of that time, Alderson didn’t make a single regular-season appearance for the Whitecaps.
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“It’s been extremely, extremely frustrating. For me, it’s been a disappointing year. I tried to take out of it as much as I could, tried to learn, continued to train well and continue to do additional things to help my development. I tried not to let the lack of games effect my development too much, but as a young player you need games and when you’re not getting games it’s frustrating,” Alderson told Sportsnet.
Maybe he’ll get a game on Tuesday when the Canadian men’s team play Panama in Panama City in an international friendly. If he does, it’ll be his first for the senior national team.
“When you start playing soccer at a young age, and then when you represent Canada at under 17 level, the ultimate goal is to play for the senior team and get your first cap. If I get it on Tuesday that would be a dream come true. It’s every player’s dream to represent their country at the highest level and to be able to do it for a number of years—that’s my goal,” Alderson said.
He later added: “This season was disappointing to say the least, so it’s great to be here in camp [with Canada] and be involved with the senior team guys.”
This is Alderson’s second senior team training camp—he participated in Austria-based camp last May, but didn’t play in Canada’s subsequent friendlies against Moldova and Bulgaria.
Alderson does have international experience, albeit at the under-17 level. He was captain of the Canadian side that competed at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico, and he was voted the country’s under-17 player of the year in 2010 and 2011
“Whenever you’re involved with the under-17 team, and anytime you get the chance to represent your country and gain international experience at youth level, it’s invaluable. It’s definitely helped me and I’ve leaned on those experience because they’ve helped me prepare for the future and helped me make it to this point,” Alderson explained.
Canadian coach Benito Floro hasn’t given Alderson any guarantees about playing time, both for Tuesday’s match and in the long-term. Like a number of youngsters named to the Spaniard’s 23-man roster, Alderson in on trial—not just for the senior side, but for Canada’s under-23 team that will attempt to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
Alderson has been encouraged by how Floro has called up a number of prospects into his teams over the past few months in order to have a look at them and expand the Canadian senior team player pool.
He’s also been impressed with the Spanish coach’s attention to detail—lengthy video sessions and intense training sessions focusing on tactics has become the norm since Floro took over as Canadian coach last summer.
“It’s been really interesting under Benito. He communicates and gets his point across in a unique way. You learn from him, he provides a different perspective and he’s very derailed oriented—very focused and he tries to instil that in his players,” Alderson said. “You learn from him.”
