More than 120 young fans got a chance to meet soccer phenomenon Alphonso Davies during a Monday autograph session at Willoughby Park in Langley.
It happened at the week-long Whitecaps summer camp for U7 to U14 boys and girls.
The wide-eyed youngsters brought shirts and soccer balls for the soft-spoken Davies to autograph.
As the lineup formed outside the Whitecaps merchandise trailer, Sam Lenarduzzi, the Whitecaps’ manager of camps and clinics, pointed out some of the young players waiting for a signature would be about the same age Davies was when he began his pro career.
“We got him when was 14,” said Lenarduzzi.
“We’re lucky to have him.”
The 17-year-old from Edmonton, who scored his first professional goal at the age of 15, was born in a refugee camp in Ghana.
His family came to Canada as refugees when he was five and Davies became a Canadian citizen on June 6, 2017.
In July, the Whitecaps announced Davies will be playing for Bayern Munich, a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria known for its top-tier soccer team, which is the most successful club in German football history.
Davies will transfer to the German team at the end of the season for a fixed transfer fee and additional compensation that could total as much as $22 million (U.S.) for the Whitecaps, the most ever received by a Major League Soccer (MLS) club.
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Earlier this year, Whitecaps FC announced that all Lower Mainland summer camps would feature longer three-hour sessions and they will include a skills challenge focusing on dribbling, shooting, passing, receiving and turning.
Select players from all summer camps will be invited to participate in a skills challenge finale at the Whitecaps FC National Soccer Development Centre (NSDC) at UBC.
The Langley camp will run until Aug. 31 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Willoughby Park.
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