It is quite the week for Pacific FC midfielder Sean Young. On Thursday, the club announced that the Victoria native had signed a two-year contract extension. On Friday night, he is expected to make his 100th appearance in a Pacific shirt when they take on Valour FC at Starlight Stadium. On Saturday, it is his 23rd birthday. In 99 games in all competitions thus far with Pacific, Young has become a key part of the team's core. He was an 83rd-minute substitute as the club won the 2021 CPL Final against Forge and appeared in all four of Pacific's Concacaf League games in 2022. Young has six goals and four assists in all competitions with the club -- the majority of which came during a strong 2023 campaign. "It's very special to reach 100 games for my local club and having the game at home on the island and to play in front of my friends and family is an honour," said Young. "I'm very grateful to Pacific for everything they have done for me and it's a big milestone in my career for me for sure." Young, who came through Bays United Youth Football Club, Vancouver Island Wave program, and the Victoria Highlanders, is a perfect model player for what the club set out to do from its inception. Eventually having local players who came through the local development pathway to the professional level was a goal for the Pacific since before even playing their first-ever match as a club back in 2019. Pacific FC head coach James Merriman, however, said he can hardly believe it happened so quickly. "Sean was an example of a local player, 17, 18 at the time that we started to bring into the training environment, [trying to] help him make that jump, as an example," said Merriman. "Now to be going into his 100th game is proving the model, is proving why the Canadian Premier League was made, was created, why we were created as a club and as a team, and then can be an example for us going forward with how we want to develop players, how we want to bring players through the system." "Because he's not only going to play his 100th game, he's proven himself at this level in the Canadian Premier League and to be an important player for our team."
As Young works through the start of his fifth season in the Canadian Premier League, still years away from the usual prime age of a player, he believes he can still reach even higher levels. Last year, he showed flashes of true dominance in the league, including winning the league's Player of the Month in May. He had two goals and three assists during that month. "If I can just keep improving, hopeful I can reach my goals of playing at a higher level, I feel like I have improved each season here at Pacific," said Young. "So I just need to continue to do that." But while he has big aspirations, Young is just taking this year one match at a time and is focused on providing the sort of consistent performance that will lead to success, both personally and for the club. "I just want to win this game, it's not going to be as special if we don't win, so just focused on that," he said. Pacific's match against Valour kicks off on Friday at 7:00 p.m. PT / 10:00 p.m. ET. Tickets are available here.
All clips courtesy of OneSoccer

Continue reading...