The Third Sub Episode 83: Analyzing long-term Vancouver Whitecaps youth development plans (Ft: Vanni Sartini)

Welcome back to another episode of the Third Sub Podcast! In this episode, Alex and Sam are back, as usual, this time joined by a very special guest, Vancouver Whitecaps Director of Methodology and former assistant coach, Vanni Sartini. During this chat, they take the time to chat about all things Whitecaps youth development, as well as Sartini's career path, as he took quite an interesting path from Italy to Canada, via a career stopover in the US. First, they dive into Sartini's career path up to this point, as he talks about his experience coaching in Italy and working in the US, sharing how he met Marc Dos Santos when the pair of them were working in the States. He also chats about what it was like to work under Dos Santos as an assistant coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps, a role that Sartini held from 2019 to 2020. After, they look at Sartini's new job, Director of Methodology, and what sort of work that job encompasses, as he's tasked to oversee all things youth development at the Whitecaps. He then looks at MLS's plans for a U23 League, a model that is hoped to emulate Englands Premier League2, sharing how he thinks that should benefit players in that age group, especially for the 'Caps. Lastly, he chats about some other bits and bobs concerning the Whitecaps academy, including his plans for the younger age groups, as well as his plan for transitioning players from the younger age groups all the way up to the first team.