Danny Califf is looking forward to the future with Toronto FC.
The 32-year old defender joined the Canadian club from Chivas USA earlier this month and is excited about what is around the corner at BMO Field.
"I do feel like I'm coming in at the start of a big upswing for the club, certainly on the field and I'm sure the (positive) off the field stuff will continue," Califf told The Canadian Press.
"So it's just about now improving the product on the field and really giving the fans that are so passionate about their club something to really get behind, results to get behind.
"And the feel that the players are holding up their bit on the field."
And Califf, who spent time in Denmark with Aalborg and Midtjylland before returning to MLS action with Philadelphia Union in 2010, says he has had to grow up since coming back to his homeland.
"I left for Denmark when I was 25 and I came into a team that was extremely young, the youngest team in the league and so at 25 I was kind of forced to become more of a leader and mature in that respect," he added.
"So I feel like it's my job - both on and off the field - to put people in the right places and try and make the guys around you better. That's something I take very seriously on the field, but off the field as well. But also I think it has to come within character too.
"I'm not going to try and be something that I'm not. I'm not a huge rah-rah guy within the locker-room. I try and lead by example. Certainly off the field I don't want to be a guy that's preaching or anything like that. Because I never enjoyed that as a player when I was younger."
