Luca Bellisomo (born 25 October 1986 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who last played for

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

club

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklö ...

Career

Youth and College

Bellisomo was born in

, and moved with his family to the

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term "Greater Vancouver" is roughly coterminous with the geographic area governed b ...

area in 1994. He played youth soccer on Lower Mainland, before moving again with his family, this time to Australia in 2001 In Australia, Bellisomo was student at The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James in the Australian town of

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, and went on to play for the

Queensland Academy of Sport The Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1991 by the Queensland Government to support athletes in the state of Queensland. Its headquarters are currently located at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in ...

, the Queensland U-17 state team, and the North Queensland schoolboys side. He also played on a couple of senior men’s soccer teams, notably the

Brisbane Wolves The Brisbane Wolves is a handball team from Brisbane, Australia. The best result at National Club Championship is fourth. Records Men * Oceania Handball Champions Cup ::4th Place - 2017 ::5th Place - 2016 * Australian Handball Club Champions ...

in the Queensland Soccer Federation XXXX League. He returned to Canada in 2004 and played four years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

, where he was named an NAIA Third Team All-American in his third year and First Team All American in his final year. He subsequently joined the Vancouver Whitecaps youth academy,

Vancouver Whitecaps Residency Whitecaps FC Academy is a Canadian soccer team, the academy of professional team Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as ...

, and played for the team in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

in 2008.

Professional

Bellisomo was called up to the senior

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

side on 18 August 2008 and played 11 games in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

. He was signed to a full professional contract by the Whitecaps in February, 2009 and continued to play for the senior team in 2010. Bellisomo moved to Finland in 2011 when he signed for

club

. He made his debut for Mariehamn on 18 January 2011 in a 4–0 victory over

FC Haka FC Haka is a Finnish football club based in the industry town of Valkeakoski. It is currently competing in Finland's premier division of football, Veikkausliiga. It is one of the most successful clubs in Finland, with nine Finnish championships a ...

in the

Finnish League Cup The Finnish League Cup was a knock-out association football, football competition contested annually during the pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga. The league cup was abolished after the 2016 tournament and replaced with the Finnish C ...

International

Bellisomo captained Canada to a fourth-place finish at the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, ...

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population ...

, eventually finishing in fourth place when Canada lost on penalties to hosts Thailand in the bronze medal playoff game. He also played 3 seasons with for Vancouver Columbus FC in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Honours

Vancouver Whitecaps

championship (1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Club Statistics

Updated: 20 October 2010.

References

External links

Vancouver Whitecaps bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellisomo, Luca 1986 births Living people White South African people South African emigrants to Canada Men's association football defenders Canadian soccer players Sportspeople from Johannesburg People from Townsville Simon Fraser Red Leafs men's soccer players USL League Two players USL First Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Whitecaps FC Academy players Canada men's youth international soccer players Veikkausliiga players IFK Mariehamn players Canadian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Finland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Finland