Saturday July 25, 2020 ~ LANGFORD, BC [Updated July 27, 2020]
~ West Shore Voice News
Vancouver Island soccer history was made this week with Pacific FC’s signing of midfielder Sean Young. A product of the Vancouver Island Wave program and a former Victoria Highlander, Young is the first example of a Victoria youth getting a professional playing opportunity in the Canadian Premier League.
“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, Pacific FC in a news release on July 23. “Thanks to his hard work through our local Wave youth program he is now at the beginning of an exciting professional career.”
Young, 19, was born in Victoria and played in the city and on the West Shore as a youth. He was enrolled in the Vancouver Island Wave program and went on to win the 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 were victorious in the 2019 Jackson Cup.
“Sean is a strong box-to-box midfielder with great capacity to get around the pitch,” said James Merriman, Associate Head Coach and Technical Director, Pacific FC. “We see great potential in adding him to our midfield core to further his development.”
He’s tall. At 6’2″, Young has been training alongside the Pacific squad since the club resumed training in early June. The team now has a roster of 19 and is training under the leadership of head coach Pa-Modou Kah and assistant coach Merriman at the Island Training Centre in Langford.
The new young soccer player is no relation to Langford Mayor Stew Young.
The 2020 season during COVID:
Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has put significant restrictions on mass gatherings and requires physical distancing, last month the Canadian Premier League announced its hope to have a 2020 CPL season working within public health guidelines.