Vancouver's TEAM 1410 radio station announced their broadcast lineup for Whitecaps' matches today, and it looks pretty promising from this standpoint. Peter Schaad, who's been calling the club's USL/USSF-II matches since 2002, will be the play-by-play man, with former Vancouver and national team goalkeeper Paul Dolan providing colour commentary. TEAM veterans Joey Kenward and Scott Rintoul will be serving as game-day hosts and anchoring pre- and post-match coverage, as well as the halftime show, while Tyler Green and Mike Martignago (of the TEAM's Full-Time Soccer Show) will be serving as reporters.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
From this perspective, that looks like a pretty good lineup. Schaad certainly knows what he's doing from a broadcast standpoint, and he's very familiar to the majority of those who have followed the Whitecaps for some time. It's that experience calling the team's matches at lower levels that may prove especially beneficial for him; there's a substantial amount of carryover from the USSF-II Whitecaps both from a roster and organizational standpoint, and having a play-by-play man who's been around the club for so long should be valuable. The same can be said for Green and Martignago, who are both very familiar faces to those who have spent time in the Swangard press box; they know the club inside and out, and they've done a terrific job with their two-hour soccer show Sunday nights.
Dolan, Kenward and Rintoul are newer faces around the current Whitecaps, but all have substantial soccer credentials. Dolan played 10 seasons with Vancouver back in the days of the 86ers, and remains the franchise's leader in goalkeeping appearances (223) and victories (126). He also picked up 53 caps for Canada and was part of the 1986 World Cup team. More recently, he's served as the CSA's goalkeeping coach, and he was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004. Kenward's well-known to locals from his work on the TEAM's Canucks and Giants broadcasts, but he's also spent a significant amount of time as a soccer official, so it's not like he's new to the game. Rintoul co-hosts the TEAM 1040 morning show with Ray Ferraro, and he's been around plenty of Whitecaps games over the years. He should be a nice addition to the broadcast team, and his presence might lead to further Whitecaps content on the morning show. It's tough to truly judge a broadcast team before they start, but from a credentials standpoint, it looks like the Whitecaps' radio broadcasts should be quite solid.