It’s been a winter of rejuvenation on Vancouver Island. Pacific FC is getting set for a big Canadian Premier League campaign, and they’ve turned to some familiar faces to help them through that process. 

Having once combined to be one of the most dynamic duos in the CPL down the right-hand side for Pacific, Marco Bustos and Kadin Chung are set to don Pacific’s purple again in 2025.

After a down year for Pacific, who only narrowly made the CPL playoffs after falling to fifth in the table, Bustos and Chung are a few of the many signings the west coast club has made to help turn things around. 

A club that wants to develop talent, while entertaining and winning games, they want to get back to those standards, having felt they slipped in some of those key areas in 2024, especially in the ‘entertaining’ category. Having scored a league-low 27 goals last season, they want to start filling the net regularly once again – they do that, and they feel the rest will follow. 

“Right now, because we have so many new faces, it’s all about getting to know each other, and that’s on the field and off it,” Pacific captain Josh Heard told CanPL.ca last week. “Then, when I think the chemistry is right, that alchemy is right, that’s when the goals will flow. It has been a focus of ours, it’s all about getting comfortable in our patterns, getting comfortable with each other, and building those relationships going forward, because, at the end of the day, it’s those relationships, those connections on the field, that produce goals.”

That’s why the return of Bustos and Chung is so important. Not only will the pair make the team more dangerous offensively, but they’ll provide crucial leadership to a young group. 

Having benefitted from the club’s philosophy of wanting to develop Canadian talent, which earned Chung a move to MLS outfit Toronto FC and Bustos a move to Swedish side IFK Värnamo, they serve as a blueprint of what the club can do for young players who arrive at the club with the right attitude.  

At the same time, given their status as key members of the 2021 Pacific side that won the North Star Cup, they can also show those youngsters that winning and development can often go hand-in-hand. 

Plus, given that Chung is still just 26 and Bustos 28, both will also help elevate Pacific’s team in the here and now, too, as they remain very much in their prime. 

Yet, that shows why many in Pacific’s ranks are so happy to welcome them back, such as Heard, who along with Sean Young is the lone two players from that 2021 team still playing with the club (Jamar Dixon remains at the club but has now moved to the front office), as these moves help Pacific in several key areas. 

“I’ve been here for so long that guys have gone and then come back home again,” Heard said with a chuckle. “But yeah, it’s cool (to have them back), they’re two fantastic guys, not only for the locker room, but on the pitch – their football speaks for themselves. So I’m happy to have them in the squad for the quality they bring on the field, but also that quality they bring in that locker room as well.”

Speaking of Heard, he also has a huge role to play in 2025. An important member of the team on and off the pitch given his status as captain, he is coming off a 2024 campaign marred by injury, which kept him out of some key matches in the second half of the season. 

As a result, he feels like he has a lot more to give this campaign, as he looks to return to his heights of the 2023 season where he had four goals and one assist after generating one goal and no assists last year. 

Then, beyond the counting numbers, he wants to return to being a key focal point for his team’s defensive play, where he plays a key role in setting the tone for his team with his running off the ball. 

A player who emulates a lot of what Pacific aims to do on both sides of the ball, he’ll hope his return to action can bring a boost to this side to begin the new season. 

“I left a lot of football on the table last year, I was out for 10 games with one of the bigger injuries I’ve had in my career,” Heard explained. “It was a learning process about how to make an impact and be a part of this team when I’m not out on the field, and that was a big learning moment for me. I took that into this offseason, got the body right, and tried to get as healthy as possible. Now, that’s a big goal of mine this year, to stay available throughout the season and be there for the squad. Personally, I’ve missed it a lot, too, it’s been a while since I’ve been out and competed in games.”

Certainly, Pacific missed that last year, which is why they’ll be pleased to see him back to his best ahead of the 2025 campaign. 

Especially as the team gets set to integrate their new faces into the fold, having that consistent presence is going to go a long way, and that isn’t lost on the club’s leadership. 

“We know what Josh brings day in and day out, but especially in the matches with his competitiveness,” Pacific head coach, James Merriman, offered. “Most importantly for him, he needs to be fit and healthy, especially with the way that he plays, as he plays very much on the front foot, he’s aggressive defensively in his duels and tackles, and he wants to press with the ball, but also wants to drive forward and use his speed on the ball. So he needs to stay fit and healthy, which he’s done in the offseason, he’s put a lot of good work in, and then we need to manage him. He played heavy minutes last season – we had a lot of injuries last year, so some of it was by necessity, so we need to manage him and he needs to manage himself, but of course, he brings a lot to our team.”

While a lot of Heard’s focus this offseason has been on getting to his best on the field, however, he’s also continuing to find ways to grow as a leader. 

For all of the struggles he had with injuries in 2024, he also learned a lot about how to step up and lead in other ways when not on the field, which taught him a lot about himself and this team. 

Because of that, one of his big goals is to bring that leadership daily, no matter what role he is tasked with providing on the pitch. 

As a local product, he knows better than anyone what’s special about this Pacific project, which has seen them develop talent at a high rate while becoming a top CPL side. 

Now, thanks to the standard set by him and those before him, the club expects to push for silverware while empowering the youth of tomorrow, and Heard wants to play a role in that. 

It’s a role he relishes, so look for Heard to make the most of his special place in this team, helping lead them to what the club hopes is a resurgent 2025 campaign, one where they don’t just return to past heights, but set a new standard for what the club can do going forward. 

“I think (leadership) is about trying to find a way to get the group to be as consistent as possible,” Heard said when asked about what he learned as a leader last year. “That changes day-to-day, week-to-week, year-to-year, and I think that’s the one thing we were missing last year, in flashes, we were good, and then in flashes, we weren’t. So it’s about finding a way to get consistency, and that’s the number one thing that I’ve tried to think about as a leader in this group – how can we be better at that? I’ve been trying to find ways there, but then on the other side, we’ve also lost leaders, but that means it’s a perfect time for new faces and new people to step up into bigger roles.”

“That’s part of the game and the growth of football, but especially in this league, we want young Canadians stepping up and taking these leadership roles, and guys are here and ready to take that step. We brought in some great faces, and guys who were here last year are ready to take on new roles as well, so I’m excited to see these guys take on new challenges.”