Vancouver FC announced on Saturday the signing of local midfielder Thomas Powell, who rejoins the club for a second season on a CPL-U SPORTS contract.

Powell, 23, was first linked with VFC when he was selected by the club out of Trinity Western University (TWU) with the fifteenth overall pick in the 2024 CPL-U SPORTS Draft. The native of Coquitlam, B.C.’s performance the following pre-season earned him his first CPL-U SPORTS contract with the Eagles in April 2024.

He went on to make six appearances for the club over the 2025 Canadian Premier League (CPL) season, logging 186 minutes. Powell returned to TWU in August 2024 but the club retained his rights, giving VFC the first opportunity to re-sign the midfielder in 2025 without having to select him in last year’s iteration of the CPL-U SPORTS Draft.

“I’m excited to sign another contract with Vancouver FC,” said Powell. “I learned a lot in my first year with the club about what it means to be a professional. I hope to be able to apply those lessons to my game this season and help the club achieve our goals.”

Each CPL club can sign up to three CPL-U SPORTS players to their Developmental Roster per season. A CPL-U SPORTS contract allows student athletes the unique opportunity to gain professional experience while maintaining their eligibility to compete at the Canadian university level.

Powell joins American-Canadian attacker Henri Godbout, a 19-year-old out of the University of British Columbia, and Canadian midfielder Medhi Essoussi, a 24-year-old out of the University of Toronto, to make up VFC’s CPL-U SPORTS contingent in 2025. Godbout and Essoussi were drafted second and tenth overall, respectively, in the 2025 CPL-U SPORTS Draft in December 2024

Following his time with the Eagles in 2024, Powell returned to TWU, just down the road from the VFC facilities in Langley,  where he made 16 appearances for the Spartans last fall, scoring one goal and adding four assists. He was named to the Canada West second team after TWU’s 6-6-3 regular season and a fourth-place finish in the Pacific Division. Over four years as a Spartan, Powell made 60 appearances for his university team, scoring 10 goals and adding 16 assists.

Powell, an alumnus of the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club in the B.C. soccer league, has also previously competed in League1 BC for Fraser Valley-based squad Unity FC.