Ethen Sampson had to make a choice.

 

One of the options, living in Mitchell’s Plain, which is about 30 kilometres away from Cape Town, included turning to a life of crime or as a gang member – there were drastic increases in murders, attempted murders and drug-related crimes last year in the township where Sampson grew up, according to Crime Stats South Africa, and gang wars continue to garner media attention.

 

Another was soccer. He opted for the latter.

 

Sampson, 20, joined Vancouver’s MLS roster after spending a year

with the club’s U-23 team, with whom he started six of his seven

appearances in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier

Development League (PDL).

During that time, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound right back also trained

with the first team on a regular basis and started each of his seven

appearances in the MLS Reserve League. More recently, Sampson

appeared in five of Whitecaps FC’s six MLS preseason matches.

Before joining Whitecaps FC on a trial in October 2012, Sampson

enjoyed a successful four-year stint with South African club ASD

Cape Town – an elite soccer school in the Western Cape. Sampson

helped ASD Cape Town win the U-17 Engen Tournament in 2010 and

finish as the runner-up at the National U-19 Metropolitan Cup in

2011.

The Mitchell's Plain top gun was also recognized individually in both those competitions, as he was named the top defender at the U-17 Engen Tournament and the top player at the Metropolitan Cup the following year. Also of note, Sampson was unanimously voted as club captain at the age of 15 after just a month at the school. He was the second youngest player on the team.

Internationally, Sampson earned a call-up to a South African U-20 national team training camp in 2011.