VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC are pleased to announce David Shankland as the new head coach of the club’s Okanagan BMO Academy Centre.
Shankland brings more than two decades of professional coaching, technical leadership, player development, and talent identification experience from Canada, Scotland, and across Europe. His extensive background in youth development, coach education, high-performance programming, and professional football environments makes him an outstanding addition to the Whitecaps FC Soccer Development department.
A highly respected coach educator and football leader, Shankland holds a CSA “A” Licence, UEFA/SFA “B” Licence, UEFA/SFA Elite Youth Licence, and numerous advanced certifications in talent identification, performance analysis, scouting, and sporting directorship.
Most recently, Shankland served as head coach of Toronto United FC’s men’s U21 team, leading the group to an undefeated league championship season while earning the league’s Coach of the Year award.
Throughout his career, Shankland has held leadership roles with organizations including Burlington Soccer Club, Guelph Soccer Club, the Scottish Football Association, BC Soccer, CFR 1907 Cluj in Romania, and APS Zakynthos FC in Greece. His experience spans grassroots development, high-performance academy leadership, coach mentorship, talent identification, and professional reserve team environments.
Shankland also brings previous experience within British Columbia soccer, having served with BC Soccer as manager of grassroots development and staff coach – player development. In this role, he helped identify and develop provincial and national-level players, delivered coach education programs, and supported the growth of Regional Training Centres across British Columbia.
As Okanagan Academy Centre head coach, Shankland will lead the technical delivery and ongoing growth of programming within the region while supporting player development, coach education, community club relationships, and alignment with the Whitecaps FC development philosophy. His leadership will play an important role in continuing to strengthen the pathway for players and coaches throughout the Okanagan region.