Just one month ago, 19-year-old Sean Young was bagging groceries trying to make some extra cash over the summer. Fast forward to Thursday, July 23 and he’s signing his first official contract with Pacific FC as a midfielder.
“I’m honestly surprised that I was signed this early. I’ve put a lot of hard work in and this is what I live for,” said the Belmont grad.
Young is a prime example of born and raised Victoria teen getting a shot to play professional soccer.
He was enrolled in the Vancouver Island Wave program and went on to win provincials with the U16 team in 2017. Young was picked up by the Highlanders Reserve squad in the Pacific Coast Soccer League in 2018.
The following year he played in both the USL League Two and was part of Vancouver Island Soccer League’s Westcastle United when they won the 2019 Jackson Cup. The Oak Bay teen transferred from Oak Bay High School to Belmont Secondary for his final year of high school to join the Pacific Soccer Institute, which trains at Westhills Stadium.
“Sean joining Pacific FC is an example of how the Canadian Premier League is strengthening our soccer community right here on Vancouver Island,” said Rob Friend, CEO of Pacific FC.
“Thanks to his hard work through our local Wave youth program he is now at the beginning of an exciting professional career.”
Though the pandemic has called a brief time-out on the Canadian Premier League, Young and the team continue to train five times a week, adhering to COVID-19 restrictions. There is no contact and the amount of players is significantly reduced on the field.
“Anytime you go to a new team you get a few butterflies and a little nervous, but at the end of the day you try to what you’ve been doing all along and not lose that focus,” said Young. “It’s a goal of mine to increase my speed of play and reach the level of one day becoming a starting player. It would be a goal of mine to help the team win a championship.”
Standing at six-foot-two, Young joins the team of 19 and continues his training under head coach Pa-Modou Kah and assistant coach James Merriman at the Island Training Centre in Langford.
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