Not even a pandemic can slow Sean Young’s progress.
The emerging midfielder won the Jackson Cup, emblematic of Vancouver Island Soccer League supremacy, with upstart and first-time champions Westcastle United in 2019.
On Thursday, 19-year-old Young signed his first professional contract with Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League.
“It’s the beginning of my pro career and it’s amazing your first contract is with your hometown team,” said the graduate of Belmont Secondary.
“I know I am going to have to increase my speed and tempo because the pace is so much faster in the pros,” added Young, a product of the Victoria Highlanders and Vancouver Island Wave programs.
“You have to be focused every time you are on the pitch as a pro.”
Being six-foot-two won’t hurt.
“I like to get on the ball, box to box, and use my size to win defensive headers,” Young said.
Pacific FC CEO and GM Rob Friend said Young is an example of the pro opportunities in the CPL awaiting promising Island youth players.
“Thanks to his hard work through our local Wave youth program, [Young] is now at the beginning of an exciting professional career,” Friend said.
Friend played in the Bundesliga and was capped 32 times for Canada, something Young would love to emulate. At 19, all things seem possible.
“Like every young player starting out here, you dream of the MLS, or even the English Premier League or Bundesliga,” Young said.
Friend’s own career shows dreams do come true. The CPL can be the launching pad for the next generation of Canadians, he said. That’s why Canada’s long-awaited national pro soccer league was created last year.
“Sean Young is a strong box-to-box midfielder with great capacity to get around the pitch,” said PFC assistant coach and technical director James Merriman.
“We see great potential in adding him to our midfield core to further his development.”
The signing brings to 19 the players PFC has under contract for the postponed 2020 CPL season.
The team has been training in Langford under head coach Pa-Modou Kah and Merriman while the CPL reviews proposals to host an abbreviated, single-site season at either Westhills Stadium or in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
“You have to be ready to play whenever the time comes,” Young said.
