Pacific FC has announced another addition to its squad ahead of the 2021 CPL season, revealing on Thursday that they’ve signed CPL-U SPORTS Draft pick Christopher Lee to a contract. The club selected Lee fifth overall in the 2021 CPL-U SPORTS Draft, picking him from the University of British Columbia. Lee, a Vancouver native, is a technically-gifted fullback, with experience playing in the Vancouver Whitecaps residency program as well as at the university level. Pacific has described him as a talented left-footed player with a knack for crossing the ball from the flank. Although he never got to play a match for the UBC Thunderbirds due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee had already impressed Pacific’s staff with his talent.
RELATED READING: CPL off-season roster tracker: Who’s in and who’s out for 2021?
“Chris is a student of the game with good potential,” said Pacific assistant coach James Merriman when the club first drafted Lee. Lee, 19, will qualify as one of Pacific’s under-21 players for the upcoming season, meaning he will help the club hit the newly increased** 1,500 minutes threshold**. “It feels amazing,” Lee said of signing. “I feel very accomplished and very proud of where I’m at, but I’m also not completely satisfied. There’s a lot more that I can do and I trust the players and the coaching staff to push me to my limits and get me even more to where I need to be.” He added: “I want to win the whole thing, I came here to win. This team has the quality to win and we’re all pushing to win the whole thing. Individually, I am trying to play as much as I can and develop as a young player, but the main goal is to win.” The young left-back will join a fullback corps on Vancouver Island that includes Kadin Chung, Jordan Haynes, and Kunle Dada-Luke, and he will add more depth to the position in the wake of news that Duran Lee will miss the 2021 season with an Achilles injury.