Four players from Pacific FC’s system will reap the benefits of the club’s strategic partnership with VfL Bochum 1848 over the next two weeks, as they travel to Germany to train within the Bundesliga club’s setup. Pacific defender Christian Greco-Taylor, 19, will be joined in Bochum, Germany by academy players Will Edgson, Mattias Hallam and Mattias Vales, all 16 years old, to train with Bochum’s U-21 side. “We are excited about our project with Bochum,” said Pacific head coach James Merriman. “Our young players have been training within our academy, developing for the last four or five years to be ready to take on opportunities like this. We are thankful for the working relationship and professional growth opportunities such a partnership has provided for our club, and believe we are just getting started.” Pacific FC and VfL Bochum developed a strategic partnership, announced in May 2024, with a goal, in part, of accelerating the growth of PFC’s top players. This marks the first time PFC players have traveled to train within Bochum’s setup. Greco-Taylor is coming off a successful 2024, which saw him sign with the Tridents and represent Canada Soccer’s U-20 national team as it qualified for the Concacaf Under-20 Championship in February. Edgson, Hallam and Vales all train with the Vancouver Island Wave Program. Vales and Edgson signed development contracts with Pacific last season, and Hallam is the younger brother of PFC’s recent U SPORTS draft pick Niklas Hallam. The trio of 16-year-olds are also students at St. John’s Academy who participate in its youth soccer academy, a partnership between Pacific and the Shawnigan Lake-based private school which is led by the Tridents’ former captain and current Director of Football Jamar Dixon. “Through our partnership with VfL Bochum we have now extended our pathway from grassroots youth soccer to the Canadian Premier League and now the Bundesliga,” said Dixon. “Our academy players now have access to opportunities, both domestically and internationally, that didn’t exist before Pacific.”
Written by:Charlie O'Connor Clarke