Courtesy the Province

(March 1, 2011) One of Peter Schaad’s earliest Whitecaps memories is being somewhere he shouldn’t have been — the old Villa Pub at the Sheraton Villa in Burnaby. He was 10. His dad was the manager.

“Giant men in a beer parlour,” Schaad recalled, “cheering a mini-game shootout victory.”

It was the 1979 NASL semifinal win over the New York Cosmos, and Schaad was hooked after that.

As the Whitecaps return to top-flight soccer this season, Schaad feels he’s exactly where he should be.

The 41-year-old Vancouverite will call every Whitecaps’ game in Major League Soccer for the TEAM 1410. Longtime Vancouver 86ers and national team goalkeeper Paul Dolan will provide colour commentary. Schaad will also host an afternoon drive show Monday to Friday. The official announcement was made Monday.

“Gratitude is probably the overriding feeling,” Schaad said. “And responsibility. There’s no other option than to have the best broadcast in the league.”

Schaad’s love of radio and play-by-play began in Canucks pajamas, hiding under the covers with a transistor radio as Jim Robson painted pictures By Marc Weber

Sports Reporter

One of Peter Schaad’s earliest Whitecaps memories is being somewhere he shouldn’t have been the old Villa Pub at the Sheraton Villa in Burnaby. He was 10. His dad was the manager.

“Giant men in a beer parlour,” Schaad recalled, “cheering a mini-game shootout victory.”

It was the 1979 NASL semifinal win over the New York Cosmos and Schaad was hooked after that.

As the Whitecaps return to top-flight soccer this season, Schaad feels he’s exactly where he should be.

The 41-year-old Vancouverite will call every Whitecaps’ game in Major League Soccer for the TEAM 1410. Longtime Vancouver 86ers and national team goalkeeper Paul Dolan will provide colour commentary. Schaad will also host an afternoon drive show Monday to Friday. The announcement was made official Monday.

“Gratitude is probably the overriding feeling,” Schaad said. “And responsibility. There’s no other option than to have the best broadcast in the league.”

Schaad’s love of radio and play-by-play began in Canucks pajamas, hiding under the covers past his bed time with a transistor radio as Jim Robson painted verbal pictures.

But soccer soon stole his attention and he remembers Ian Michaud calling Whitecaps’ games in the NASL days.

“Of the people who didn’t have an accent, he was the best,” said Schaad. “He perfectly fused the North American expectations with some of the traditional stuff. If this is going to be really successful, we have to also convert people who are not soccer people.

“But Im not a cutesy, catch-phrasey guy. The game needs to be the star. We’ve got fans who are way above average in their understanding of soccer, and their expectations.”

Schaad, who dabbled as a goalkeeper and coaches a men’s team in Tsawwassen, has struck a fine balance between entertainment and education since joining the Whitecaps’ broadcast team in 2002, then a colour commentator to Dolan’s play-by-play call.

The two also worked together on the United Soccer Leagues’ Friday night game of the week on Fox Sports World Canada. Alan Errington, the University of the Fraser Valley coach who has called games with Schaad since 2005, isn’t involved for MLS.

On having two goalkeepers in the booth, Schaad pointed out that “one is a hall of famer, and then there’s me.”

Dolan played 10 years with the Vancouver 86ers and earned more than 50 caps for Canada, including a start at the 1986 World Cup.

Schaad’s last day as the smooth, soothing drive host at 100.5 The Peak is March 11. He’s also leaving his part-time teaching role in Columbia Academy’s broadcast program for a two-year contract at the TEAM 1410.

For Schaad, who has a 17-month-old son, Alex, with wife Sandra, the moves means less security but more soccer.

He couldn’t be more excited.

“It’s truly unbelievable to see how many times things have fallen apart and where it’s at now,” he said of soccer in North America and Vancouver. “There was a time where I thought, ‘This is just not going to happen.’ But I believe now in my heart that the game is here to stay.”

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