Richmond's Caleb Clarke will be continuing his professional soccer career in Germany.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced Wednesday Clarke will be joining German Bundesliga club FC Augsburg on a yearlong loan. The 20-year-old will train and play with FC Augsburg's U-23 side and will also have regular training sessions with the club's first team of the top flight German Bundesliga.
"Caleb is a young player with a lot of upside," said Martin Rennie, Whitecaps FC head coach. "This is a great opportunity for Caleb to continue in his development and we look forward to seeing the progress he'll make while with FC Augsburg."
The Richmond Youth Soccer Association product joined the Whitecaps FC Residency program in September 2009 and went on to sign a Major League Soccer (MLS) contract as the club's sixth Homegrown player last year. Clarke made his MLS debut at home last August against FC Dallas, coming on as a late substitute for fellow striker Kenny Miller. Clarke also made a substitute appearance against Chivas USA in October.
In addition, the 6foot-1, 165-pound striker made five appearances for the 'Caps in the MLS Reserve League. With Whitecaps FC U-23, Clarke scored five goals in seven appearances in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier Development League (PDL). He also helped the club's U-18 Residency side make it to the 2012 United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) championship final, scoring 24 goals in 27 appearances over the course of the season.
Internationally, Clarke has had experience with the Canadian national team at the U-18 and U20 level. In December of 2011, he earned his first call-up to the Canadian national team program when he was one of five Whitecaps FC Residency players to be selected by former Whitecaps FC player and assistant coach Nick Dasovic to a 10-day training camp with Canada's U-20 national team in Sunrise, Florida. In September of 2012, the striker netted both goals in a 2-0 friendly win for the U-20 team over Trinidad & Tobago.
Most recently, Clarke scored twice against Nicaragua in the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship on February 20 of this year.
