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By Marty Hastings

GREAT DANE

Former Whitecaps’ goalkeeper Ousted joins KYSA ranks as sporting director

Jul 9, 2024 | 1:59 PM

KAMLOOPS — David Ousted is okay with temperatures hovering around 40 C this week in Kamloops.

“Oh, I like it,” Ousted said with a laugh. “It’s better than rainy and five degrees in Denmark.”

The Danish goalkeeper – who is among the best shot stoppers in Vancouver Whitecaps’ history – will have plenty of time to get acclimated to the heat considering his new role as sporting director for the Kamloops Youth Soccer Association.

“We’re really trying to build a best-in-class football club,” said Ousted, who was signed by the ‘Caps in June of 2013 and racked up 55 wins and 42 clean sheets in 142 matches before leaving the club after the 2017 campaign.

“There are going to be really exciting changes here in the near future, but also in the long run and we really believe this is going to add a lot of value to the community, to the city and especially to the kids.”

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Lyle Dos Santos is general manager for both KYSA and semi-pro Rivers FC and has been touting significant changes in the River City soccer landscape.

Plans include completing an all-Kamloops soccer development pathway that starts in the under-three ranks in the KYSA, leads to the high-performance BC Soccer Premier League, feeds Rivers FC and the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack of U Sports and graduates players who go on to professional careers and national-team success.

Ousted, an advisor to the Rivers FC board of directors, is pegged to be a key cog in the KYSA scheme.

“This isn’t just for player development,” Dos Santos said of hiring Ousted. “This is for player and coach development. The big plan, and with David, is to really up-level the organization to being more of a European model.

“We’re going to leverage his experience to bring us what is a best-in-class model.”

‘Best in class’ appears to be a fixture in club messaging and Ousted said he has a boots-on-the-ground role in achieving the goal, despite being based in Vancouver with his family.

“I need to be among the kids and implement some of these things I see,” said Ousted, noting he has an apartment in Kamloops. “It doesn’t work if I’m just there once in a while. I want to be there as much as possible.

“I need to be around the coaches to support them and really drive the quality control.”

Ousted’s goals include improving individual skill development at a young age and equipping KYSA coaches to enforce a more European-style curriculum.

“We know it’s a team sport, but within that team there are a lot of individuals who, hopefully, are going to be able to raise to a different level that, for me, is not seen here in B.C. so far,” Ousted said.

Ousted logged time between the pipes for D.C. United and the Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer after his tenure in Vancouver before finishing his playing career with stints in Sweden and Denmark.

The family developed a love for Vancouver and Ousted saw potential for soccer in B.C. and Canada, so they returned and settled on the Coast.

Dos Santos said connections with Rivers FC president Nick Rinaldi and men’s team head coach John Antulov, who is also head coach for the TRU WolfPack men, have grown in recent years and helped spur Ousted’s decision to join the KYSA.

Ousted’s responsibilities will include building a comprehensive development pathway plan from U3 to semi-pro, team structures, select programs and high-performance programs, according to Dos Santos.

“I see a tremendous opportunity to put something in place that is really going to make a difference in the soccer landscape in B.C.,” Ousted said.