Two local soccer players have been recruited by by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
Defender Andrew Grange and forward Otis Sandhu will join a Thunderbirds team which is coming off an undefeated season which ended with a CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) championship.
Grange played youth soccer for Fusion FC before spending much of this past season with SC Fürstenfeldbruck, an under-19 team in Germany. He is a graduate of St. Thomas More Secondary in Burnaby.
“I’m sure that was a terrific experience, which helped to prepare him more and more to play at the next level,” said UBC head coach Mike Mosher.
Sandhu has also spent time playing overseas, having been in the youth systems of both Vicenza Calcio in Italy and Stevenage FC of England.
He also played club soccer for Coquitlam Metro-Ford and was on the under-18 team that won the Provincial Premier Cup.
“Competition for spots is always fierce, but we definitely see these players as impact players in the years to come given their backgrounds,” said Mosher.
UBC will begin the 2013 Canada West regular season on Sept. 6 with a road game on Vancouver Island against the Victoria Vikings. The team’s first home match will take place two days later on David Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium against the Fraser Valley Cascades.