Believe he was in our reserves since '17 but moved to Whitecaps in 2020 and came back?
Bit earlier I believe, think he was in Vancouver before the U20 World Cup so at least April 2019. I’d always assumed he was Canadian and qualified through parents or similar given Vancouver academy isn’t the most obvious place to go. Either way hopefully it’s a first team gig, as Ligue 2 is a very decent league to be in. It’s good to see guys going direct to overseas contracts as there’s only a dozen places at the Phoenix first team so they’re hot property. I didn’t watch the reserves religiously, but he’s a winger who looked reasonably solid for a player who’s team were often second best, if not standing out compared to Ben Old.
Importantly with that surname Raimbault, he perhaps has a Euro/French passport, making signing for Caen a bit easier??
Good luck to him. A young 20-21 yr old Tuiloma struggled to get much game time for Strasbourg in National 1 (French 3rd tier).
Whatever happens this A League season with the Nix, hopefully once the NZ National League is finished some of Weenix kids can somehow train regularly with the 1st team squad. Two full seasons of that not happening, wouldn't be good for the club.
Importantly with that surname Raimbault, he perhaps has a Euro/French passport, making signing for Caen a bit easier??
Good luck to him. A young 20-21 yr old Tuiloma struggled to get much game time for Strasbourg in National 1 (French 3rd tier).
Whatever happens this A League season with the Nix, hopefully once the NZ National League is finished some of Weenix kids can somehow train regularly with the 1st team squad. Two full seasons of that not happening, wouldn't be good for the club.
Yeah he’s a Kiwi with a French father, hence the name. Went to Canada in 2017 after a season of Central League with Wellington United - 16 games, 3 goals. Definitely one of the better Weenix players as of 2020/21.
Only signed for the reserve team as of now, but still an awesome move!
Importantly with that surname Raimbault, he perhaps has a Euro/French passport, making signing for Caen a bit easier??
Good luck to him. A young 20-21 yr old Tuiloma struggled to get much game time for Strasbourg in National 1 (French 3rd tier).
Whatever happens this A League season with the Nix, hopefully once the NZ National League is finished some of Weenix kids can somehow train regularly with the 1st team squad. Two full seasons of that not happening, wouldn't be good for the club.
Yeah he’s a Kiwi with a French passport, hence the name. Went to Canada a while back but played Central League with Miramar and Wellington United.
Only signed for the reserve team as of now, but still an awesome move!
doubt he played CL for Mar (too young)? very talented player
Importantly with that surname Raimbault, he perhaps has a Euro/French passport, making signing for Caen a bit easier??
Good luck to him. A young 20-21 yr old Tuiloma struggled to get much game time for Strasbourg in National 1 (French 3rd tier).
Whatever happens this A League season with the Nix, hopefully once the NZ National League is finished some of Weenix kids can somehow train regularly with the 1st team squad. Two full seasons of that not happening, wouldn't be good for the club.
Yeah he’s a Kiwi with a French passport, hence the name. Went to Canada a while back but played Central League with Miramar and Wellington United.
Only signed for the reserve team as of now, but still an awesome move!
doubt he played CL for Mar (too young)? very talented player
Good on the lad. Anyone in the know have a take on where his international future lies
Born in France, but pretty unlikely to ever be in the reckoning for them. Does he have links to Canada also? Basing this purely on his time in the Whitecaps setup.
Good on the lad. Anyone in the know have a take on where his international future lies
Born in France, but pretty unlikely to ever be in the reckoning for them. Does he have links to Canada also? Basing this purely on his time in the Whitecaps setup.
This was a game for the Reserve team (Caen II) who he signed for, in 4th tier of French football (National 2). 4th tier seems to consist of 4 regional leagues of about 16 teams each, for some reference.
Tuiloma had a spell in the French 3rd tier, at about the same age (20).
I note Soccerway has Raimbault listed under a Canadian flag, but as mentioned further up this thread he has lived both there, and more recently NZ (Nix Reserves).
Good on the lad. Anyone in the know have a take on where his international future lies
Born in France, but pretty unlikely to ever be in the reckoning for them. Does he have links to Canada also? Basing this purely on his time in the Whitecaps setup.
Pretty sure he has zero links to Canada but he moved with his parents a while back
Good on the lad. Anyone in the know have a take on where his international future lies
Born in France, but pretty unlikely to ever be in the reckoning for them. Does he have links to Canada also? Basing this purely on his time in the Whitecaps setup.
Pretty sure he has zero links to Canada but he moved with his parents a while back
That's good, less countries to be able to compete with!
Also, no disrespect whatsoever - you know shoot for the stars and all that, but he'd have to do something pretty out of this world in order to get into any French setup. Let's just wait and see how he goes for Caen. Plenty of years ahead of him to be able to forge a good career.
https://parking-fury.com/ I’d always assumed he was Canadian and qualified through parents or similar given Vancouver academy isn’t the most obvious place to go
Ronan Wynne was another who had a dabble in Denmark, now back with a Colorado College??
Read on another post that 24 yr Hunter Ashworth (ex NZ U20s), who had a couple of seasons in the USL has basically retired, and pursuing some type of career stateside. Tenuous NZ links anyway I think, being US born.
But I guess the uncertain ruthless slog of a pro football career ain't for everyone. For some it just won't be fun enough, or worth all the sacrifices. Even Ryan Nelsen candidly admitted he had doubts he was good enough to go pro, and was very close to going down the corporate route post College, before signing with DC United.
And for sure seems post football, USA is a land of opportunity for many Kiwis. Tim Brown, Nelsen, Elliott, Duncan Oughton, Lochhead, Gleeson, Cameron Knowles, Gavin Wilkinson, Colvey - spring to mind. Jeremy Christie over there??
I'm sure there's a few more and indicates likely why a few years in the somewhat off radar USL and gaining that Green Card is a valued commodity. Or yeah the US College route, as a football backup.
What’s the story these days with those who have been pro then going to college?
Perhaps realizing early on that a half decent education isn't too bad to fall back on should the pro footballer dream not pan out.
oh I wasn't saying it in a judgy way - just thought US College system wouldn't allow it (or used to not)?
Perhaps French 4th tier (Raimbault) or Danish 3rd tier (Ronan Wynne) are low enough they don't breach whatever rules apply with the US College system - ie still considered amateur.
What’s the story these days with those who have been pro then going to college?
Perhaps realizing early on that a half decent education isn't too bad to fall back on should the pro footballer dream not pan out.
oh I wasn't saying it in a judgy way - just thought US College system wouldn't allow it (or used to not)?
I didn't mean to come across that way 😅 I did think the same however. Thought that if he'd signed a pro deal in France that that would scupper any chance to go back and play football in the US College system. Either that or there is some other criteria that I am otherwise unaware of that he meets to be able to make the jump back across the Atlantic.
