As a sportsperson, the best way to build confidence and improve is by playing matches and accumulating minutes.
That becomes even more important when you’re young and trying to establish yourself.
I’m 20, and this is my first professional contract with Vancouver FC, so every opportunity to step onto the pitch matters.
I’ve always felt that training only takes you so far. You can work every day on the pitch, and even competitive training games help, but nothing really compares to real match minutes – that’s where you learn the most and grow the fastest.
In the Canadian Premier League (CPL), there’s a huge emphasis on giving young Canadian players opportunities. Every club has a primary roster of up to 23 players, a separate development roster, and across the season clubs have to accumulate 2,000 minutes from Canadian U21 players.
It’s a great rule and definitely a large part of the attraction and incentive for young players coming to the CPL, to get us exposed to professional football. There’s been lots of talented players who have come through this system already.
For young players who qualify for it, like me or Emrick Fotsing or Henri Godbout, that creates real chances to get on the field and gain experience. And it also gives you something to hold onto – knowing that even if you’re not playing every week, your moment will come, and you need to be ready when it does.
On top of that, clubs must include a minimum of six Canadian domestic players in the starting lineup for each league match, and the primary roster must include a minimum of three domestic U21 players.
There is always talk of the main objective of Vancouver FC and the league being to create opportunities for homegrown talent to compete as professionals in a national league, and to provide a platform and a clear Canadian pathway from grassroots through to the highest levels of soccer on the world stage.
But these rules make that into a reality for us players.
Because of these rules, we can come from League1 BC or university soccer, and in your first year – especially if you’re on that roster, you know you’ll get minutes. You’ll get good experience, and then it’s just stepping stones from there.
That’s how I view it.
As a young player, at the end of the day you’ll take any minutes you can get with full force. I don’t really see a point in coming off the bench or sitting on the bench for a game and sulking about it or having a bad attitude.
My last season with TSS Rovers in League1 BC, I think I missed maybe 90 minutes of play and was on the field for about 1,500 minutes. I played pretty much every minute of every game and it was my best year of football I’ve ever played. So I think the consistent minutes, week in, week out, just absolutely shot my confidence through the roof and it helped me develop a lot.
Previous to that, I was younger and wasn’t necessarily in the starting 11. Being on the bench taught me a lot, and it made me more hungry in training but it is always tough watching from the side of the pitch.
A few minutes can go a long way, like 15 minutes, week in, week out, can get you used to the pace and your teammates’ habits. Then when you work hard during the week and your time comes to actually play 90 or 60 minutes you are prepared for it.
As for the development roster, clubs can register young players such as university players and academy graduates and they can train regularly with the first team and can be selected for CPL matches. Their minutes count toward the club’s U21 requirements, without impacting the primary roster limit or the main salary-budget structure.
They also maintain their university eligibility. Having played with UFV and SFU also, I see the value of all of these rules for young, local players.
For me this season, I had a bit of a setback at the start with an injury, but I’ve slowly gotten more and more minutes as the season’s going on. And my confidence is definitely growing too.
Last weekend our unbeaten run came to an end against Cavalry FC in a close game, but they scored twice late on. It was disappointing, but I was proud to play my first full CPL match for the club.
RELATED – VIDEO: Latest home game of season a loss for Vancouver FC
On Saturday, we face the CPL’s first Quebec-based club, welcoming FC Supra du Quebec to the Stadium at Langley Events Centre for the first time – which is another important moment, and exciting experience to be involved in.
Thanks for your continued support.
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– Kian Proctor is a 20-year-old Vancouver FC defender from Delta, who signed his first professional contract for the 2026 season after a standout year at SFU. He will be writing a weekly column this season, offering insight into himself and his new team.
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