Alderson promoted to Vancouver’s senior roster, gets Generation Adidas tag

Bryce Alderson

The Vancouver Whitecaps made significant gains in both the player-development and PR departments on Thursday. With the announcement that reigning Canadian U-17 player of the year Bryce Alderson has been promoted from the Whitecaps Residency to the MLS roster, the club has given its most exciting teen prospect the chance to step up — and also helped silence the critics who noted the lack of Canadians on the first team through the 2011 season.

Alderson, like teammate Russell Teibert, was granted Generation Adidas status, meaning the midfielder’s appearance on the roster has no ramification on the salary cap, and he is automatically protected ahead of next week’s expansion draft, which the Montreal Impact will use to stock its roster.

“Bryce is an intelligent, gifted player that has already played at a very high level in his young career,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie in a release. “He captained Canada at last summer’s U-17 World Cup, and has continued his development in our Residency program and by training with our first team. We’re excited to add another young Canadian talent to our MLS squad.”

Because of his commitments to the U-17 national team in 2011, Alderson’s domestic schedule was reduced. He played in 11 PDL matches with the Residency and made two more appearances with the Whitecaps’ reserve squad.

Teibert, Alderson and Philippe Davies are the young Canadians on the Whitecaps roster. Under current MLS rules, the appearance of those three players on the roster allows the senior team to make the quota of Canadian players required on a Canadian club.

Defender Alain Rochat also counts as a domestic player because he was born in Quebec — even though he has spent most of his life in Switzerland and is in that country’s player pool.