The partnership between the Moose Jaw Soccer Association and the Vancouver Whitecaps is beginning to bear fruits.

Local soccer products Jace Fraser and Aleksa Bijelic were hand-picked by former MLS player and current Saskatchewan Whitecaps Head Coach Pedro Dias. He identified the boys as two players he wanted to have in Saskatoon training with the Whitecaps residency squad after watching them in action at one of the Whitecaps camps held here in Moose Jaw.

The boys had an opportunity to join the squad for a friendly match against the Western Canada Games team up in Saskatoon earlier this month. Moose Jaw Soccer Association's Executive and Technical Director Jordan Jeffery said the boys had a successful day with the Whitecaps.

"Both of them played a good amount of minutes," said Jeffery, "I got a match report of the game and they both played very well and we're hopeful that this is just the start for the Moose Jaw product line."

Jeffery added that he hopes that the Moose Jaw Soccer Association will soon be on par with the other sports associations around town when it comes to sending talent to the next level.

"There are a lot of other sports that have been producing athletes that have come from Moose Jaw, and we're looking now to deliver a program and a structure that everybody in this city can be proud of; whether you're a soccer fan or not."

Having the Vancouver Whitecaps as a partner and having access to their training programs have been incredibly valuable to the program according to Jeffery.

"We definitely saw the difference this year," he said, "we had a lot of our older competitive teams just using Whitecaps sessions solely and played some of the best soccer that I've seen Moose Jaw play; and we're immensely proud of that."

The Moose Jaw Soccer Association will be holding a free camp for Canada Soccer's Active Start Festival on August 3rd and 4th. Kids aged 6 to 11 are encouraged to sign up for the camp which will be largely game based with a number of fun challenges.

Online registration for the 2019 Indoor Season is now open early as well due to popular demand. For more information on camps and sign-ups head to the Moose Jaw Soccer Association website.