One Minute

Bennett Gosal is older than his twin sister Naomie by one minute. He brings it up constantly. She gets mad every time.

He has been competing with her for as long as either of them can remember. Who is faster, who made the better decision, who should have passed instead of shot. She pushes him. He pushes her. They both ended up in the BC Soccer provincial program, both play with Fusion, Bennett in the BCSPL and Naomie with Premier Women's League, and both got called up to play with older teams. The competition between them built something in both of them that neither would have found alone.

But Bennett's story is not just about the twin dynamic. It is about what happens when a group of kids grow up together, stay together, and build something that no amount of individual talent can replicate.

The Gosal Way

The work ethic in the Gosal house did not come from nowhere.

Dad Gary has been competing since he was a kid, starting with soccer through Kerrisdale and Kensington Soccer Club, playing the highest level available to him at the time. But soccer was only part of it. Gary also played field hockey his entire life, and last year he represented Canada at the Over-50 Field Hockey World Cup in New Zealand. A man in his fifties still chasing the highest level he can find. That is the example Bennett grew up watching.

Mom Sharline brought something different. A teacher by training from a small town called Clare in Nova Scotia, she is driven in a way Bennett struggles to find one word for. She wants to complete every task, finish what she starts, and she passed that same instinct to her kids. She also did boxing and figure skating growing up, so the competitive streak in the family does not come from just one side.

Their younger brother is coming up through the game too. He is a CDM, same as Naomie, smart on the field, getting bigger, going to the gym, doing his own highlight reels. Bennett watches his clips and gives him feedback based on what he has learned playing at the next level. Three kids, all reading the game from defensive positions, all pushing each other at the kitchen table and in the backyard.

Since Grade Two

Bennett started playing soccer at four years old. His dad coached him for the first three years at RFC. That is where the foundation was laid, not just for his game, but for the group around him.

Half the guys on his current Fusion team he has known since grade two. His best friend London has been beside him since kindergarten. Other than one season, they have been on the same team from the very beginning to now. When the group eventually moved from RFC to Fusion, it was not a collection of strangers learning to play together. It was a team that already knew each other's habits, each other's tendencies, each other's families. The chemistry and consistent coaching was already there before the first BCSPL training session ever started.

At RFC, they never lost. Bennett says it plainly. They all knew they had the ability to play at a higher level. It was not arrogance. It was something they had proven to each other over years.

That chemistry is visible. Watch them in practice and you can see it in the no-look passes, the runs that start before the ball is even played, the communication that sometimes does not need to happen at all because both players already know. Bennett describes moments where a pass looks wrong to everyone watching but lands exactly where it was supposed to, because the runner was already going before the ball was played. That is not coaching. That is years.

"The team chemistry between all of us made us better players," Bennett says. "Ultimately it made us get better as individuals and as a team. I think that's why we're so good today."

"I think the fact that we were able to lift each other up, even though we knew how difficult a team was to play, I think that was the most important thing."

The Coach Who Set the Standard

The first coach Bennett had at Fusion was Alvin Prasad.

Prasad took a group of Richmond kids, mixed in players from Vancouver and Burnaby, and turned them into one team. His philosophy was simple. If you are not running, you come off. Work ethic was not a bonus. It was the baseline.

"He was strictly based on work ethic," Bennett says. "If you weren't running, you would come off. He would say that all the time."

Prasad coached the group for their first two years. Before Fusion, he had played three years at Langara College and was part of back-to-back CCAA National Championship winning men's soccer teams in 1999 and 2000. He went on to coach with Streetball FC, who won the Gothia Cup in Sweden, and with Vancouver Football Club. He also coached the Langara women's soccer program. His daughter Eila plays on the Fusion girls side. Bennett calls him one of his favourite coaches, the one of many who got him to where he is today.

"He helped me to the level where I am today," Bennett says. "Provincial program, playing with men's teams. He stood out for me."

After Prasad, then Jeevan and Savin Sandhu took over as head coaches, keeping the standard high. Prit Lidder, whose son is the team captain, stayed on as assistant and later became manager. Johnny Pashalidis, whose son also plays on the team, came in as another coaching voice. The consistency of that environment, coaches who care, who show up, who hold the group to something, shaped Bennett over years.

The Cerebral Center Back

Bennett has played nearly every position on the pitch. He started in midfield, moved to center back, shifted to right back, spent time on the right wing, and ended up back at center back. He has seen the game from everywhere, and that matters, because center back is the position where you see everything.

From the back line, he organizes the defence, reads the play before it develops, and steps into challenges before they become problems. FTF Canada described him as composed and intelligent under pressure, able to nullify strikers with smart positioning and decisive actions.

He was not always vocal about it. Early on, he was a quiet player. That changed as he developed and began to realize his value on the team. The confidence grew, and the voice followed.

Now he talks a lot. He will tell you that himself. He is one of the leaders on the team alongside Jayce, the captain and holding midfielder, and Rafael Gomez, the right back. Their goalie Taiga Takahashi is another vocal presence, commanding the box and directing traffic from the back. Together they are the voices that organize the group on the pitch. The team notices it, and the group respects it. From the back line, where you can see the whole field, that voice matters most.

Playing Up

When Bennett got called up to the O8 team under Steve Millar, the jump was real.

The physicality was different. The style was more direct, more physical than what his own team played. He admits it was a shell shock at first. But he adjusted, and he and his center back partner, at the time, Seb Dominguez, who had been playing together since intake, were two of the more consistent performers on the squad.

They reached the quarter finals. Lost on penalties to a team they should have beaten. Bennett does not sugarcoat it.

"We should have beat them."

But what he took away from that year was bigger than the result. The competition was higher. The intensity prepared him for what comes next.

The style was different too. The O8s played more direct. His own team loves moving the ball, one-twos, combinations built on years of chemistry. With the O8s it was more physical, more vertical. He learned to play both ways, and brought the mental toughness back with him.

Bennett also plays on Sundays with the Fusion U21s in the VMSL, and played one Premier game alongside London under Steve Millar. The connections within the Fusion system run deep. Every level feeds into the next.

Vegas, San Diego and What America Showed Him

The tournaments tell the story of how far this group has come.

In San Diego, Bennett went with a mixed squad of O9s and O8s for a showcase under Steve Millar. They did not lose a single game. The level was high, and it opened their eyes to how other teams across North America play and what they needed to do to match it. They have also been to Toronto and Seattle, losing in the final in Seattle.

"For me, travel tournaments are more of a team bonding experience," Bennett says. "I love going there and having fun with my teammates. That's always been one of the most important things for me."

Vegas with the Sandhu coaches, was where it got serious. They won their group, then beat an MLS Next team on penalties. Then they beat the top ECNL team from Utah 2-1. They made the final. And then they lost on penalties to a team Bennett says was the weakest they had played in the bracket.

"We should have beat them three zero."

It stung. But the fact that a group of kids from Richmond could go to Vegas and compete with the best youth programs in North America, beating MLS academy sides along the way, said everything about what years of chemistry and work ethic can produce. They were not the biggest, not the most resourced. They just knew each other, trusted each other, and refused to stop running.

The Bounce Back

This season started badly.

Bennett had been with the O8s the previous year. When he came back to the O9 squad, the season did not start the way anyone expected. They opened with a 3-0 loss. Did not score for the first three games. They were last in the league.

The skill had not gone anywhere. The work ethic had.

The team held player-only meetings. Everyone said their piece. The message was clear: practices needed to match the intensity of games. Practice how you play. That is what Jeevan and Savin have always held them to, and it was the same principle that brought them back.

"Our skill is there," Bennett says. "Work ethic is the most important thing as a team."

They are building back. Provincials start in May, and Nationals would be in August. This group has been chasing a national berth since intake, and they lost in the semi-finals the first time they had the chance. They want it back.

Two Flags, One Family

Nations Cup is a family affair for the Gosals.

The Nations Cup is one of the biggest community soccer events in Richmond, held every summer and now heading into its 45th year. Bennett played Youth Nations Cup for Team Italy, coached by Tino Cucca, the Fusion 2010 boys coach. Naomie played for Team Italy on the girls side. Two siblings, same flag, separate draws, never on the same pitch for it.

Bennett also went on to play the men's Nations Cup for Scotland under Steve Millar. Four tournaments across two national identities, all in one family. Playing under different coaches, in different systems, with teammates he had never trained with before, forced him to adapt quickly. Read the game faster. Communicate with strangers the way he communicates with the guys he has known since grade two. That adaptability shows up in everything he does now.

Team BC and What Comes Next

Bennett has been in the BC Soccer provincial program for three years alongside Rafael Gomez, his toughest training partner and the hardest player to handle in practice. Their goalie Taiga Takahashi was recently added to the program. The Wednesday sessions from October to December are intense, everyone competing for their spot, but by the end of it the group gets close because they are all playing with high-quality players who make each other better.

The March combine is coming up. Bennett is ready for it.

He has also started coaching at Fusion, following Naomie into it. Tuesdays and Saturdays, working with young kids, taking his fundamentals course. He is new to it, but he loves it. His mom helped both him and Naomie understand how to connect with younger kids, and it shows.

"She helped us," he says. "How to cooperate with the little kids, how to make them happy."

Bennett also plays high school soccer at McRoberts, where his team has made provincials three years in a row. They are the only grade eight through grade twelve team to qualify each time. London is the only Fusion 2009 BCSPL teammate at his school, but the McRoberts roster is loaded with BCSPL talent from Fusion's 2010 squad and TSS players. His younger brother plays on the team too. Outside of soccer, Bennett has played ball hockey, basketball, volleyball, and track. The ball hockey was with his soccer friends, and they dominated because they were already fast from years of running. The athleticism translates.

His direction is health and education, working in recreation or sports management. He wants to keep coaching. He and Naomie are trying to land at the same university, which would mean two Gosals arriving at the same school, built by the same household, the same club, the same community.

The boys recruitment timeline runs later than the girls. Bennett is still in the early stages, first conversations, saying hello, nothing formal yet. He is not in a rush. He knows what he wants.

If he could go back and talk to himself the night before intake, he knows what he would say.

"Take every opportunity you can get. Those opportunities, trust me, they'll change everything for your career."

He pauses.

"And cherish every moment. In ten years' time, you'll be looking back. Damn, I miss those moments."

The kid who started at RFC at four years old with his dad coaching him, who has played alongside the same group of boys for over a decade, who went from being the quietest player on the pitch to one of the loudest voices on the back line, is still going. Still competing with his sister. Still pushing the guys around him. Still showing up.

That is the Gosal way. And it started long before either of them laced up their first pair of boots.