The Province

Head bangers

Whitecaps draw 1-1 with FC Dallas, as serious off-field incidents overshadow the game

- Ed Willes ewilles@postmedia.com twitter.com/willesonsp­orts

Since they joined MLS six-plus years ago, the Vancouver Whitecaps have presented themselves as a franchise built on the best values of sport.

This is good business. Tickets and jerseys are easier to sell when fans believe they’re investing in a team that represents higher principles.

This is true of Manchester United, the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys and every franchise in every profession­al league.

But, in the Whitecaps’ case, it also seemed to be more than a corporate strategy. There was something likable about this team, something admirable about their efforts to connect with the community, to project a positive image, to do the right things.

So has that changed? Do the events of this week alter the perception of the Whitecaps and everything they’ve tried to build since 2011?

The short-term answer is they have to. As for the long-term answer, that’s up to the Whitecaps.

This past week, the Whitecaps found themselves in the middle of two highly disturbing incidents which stained this franchise.

In the first, two members of the Whitecaps’ youth residency program were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a teammate in what was described as a “locker-room incident” in early June.

The mother of the victim told Global News her son was pinned by the two players. She then described a scene in which her son was sexually assaulted while other players looked on and laughed.

The three principals are all 17 and minors which means their names are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Burnaby RCMP has charged the two players with sexual assault. The Whitecaps suspended both. The mother also accused the Whitecaps of attempting to downplay the incident and treat it as an internal matter.

The Whitecaps were still reeling from that story when Sheanon Williams, their starting right back, was arrested for assault stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident early Thursday morning. Williams has been suspended by MLS and will undergo substance abuse and behavioura­l assessment.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning in Vancouver.

When contacted on Saturday before the Whitecaps tied 1-1 with FC Dallas at B.C. Place, team president Bob Lenarduzzi declined to comment. After the game, Caps head coach Carl Robinson addressed it briefly. “It’s not ideal, is it?” he said. “We’re working with the relevant parties and we’re getting through it. It’s been a tough week. We have to deal with it, and we will deal with it. Our thoughts are with everyone involved, but I’m here to talk about the game. So let’s talk about the game.

“It’s a week I probably want to try to forget.”

But, really, what else could he say? What could he possibly offer to make this better? Sexual assault and domestic violence are powerful charges which create powerful images and it doesn’t matter how many times you use words like alleged in their proximity. The very thought of those actions is so sickening it disgraces everyone and everything which comes near them.

So, again, how do the Whitecaps get past this?

They can’t. What they can do, however, is adhere to those values on which they claim they’re built and little by little, bit by bit, restore the public’s confidence in their organizati­on. This can’t be done through a press release. It can only be done by returning to their foundation­al principles: connecting with the community, working with kids, doing the right things.

People will know if their efforts are sincere and genuine. They’ll also know if they’re being played.

Since they arrived in our community, the Whitecaps have tried to stand for something. Right now that’s being tested, but these are the times when their true character will be revealed.

Before Saturday’s game, a video was shown on the Jumbotron at The Dome as part of MLS’s Don’t Cross the Line campaign. In it, some of the league’s biggest stars urge their followers to end discrimina­tion and say no to discrimina­tion, no to racism, no to homophobia.

“There are no excuses and no exceptions,” they say.

It’s an effective message and part of an effective initiative.

It would be nice to know it’s more than a marketing ploy.

 ?? GERRY KAHRMANN/PNG ?? Kellyn Acosta of FC Dallas gets sandwiched between Vancouver Whitecaps Brek Shea, left, and Russell Teibert during Saturday’s game at B.C. Place.
GERRY KAHRMANN/PNG Kellyn Acosta of FC Dallas gets sandwiched between Vancouver Whitecaps Brek Shea, left, and Russell Teibert during Saturday’s game at B.C. Place.
 ?? GERRY KAHRMANN/PNG ?? The Whitecaps’ Jake Nerwinski collides with FC Dallas player Roland Lamah during regular-season MLS action at B.C. Place on Saturday night. Vancouver and Dallas battled to a 1-1 draw.
GERRY KAHRMANN/PNG The Whitecaps’ Jake Nerwinski collides with FC Dallas player Roland Lamah during regular-season MLS action at B.C. Place on Saturday night. Vancouver and Dallas battled to a 1-1 draw.

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