Reeve Frosler
The Lad’s got talent
AGE:18
CLUB: Bidvest Wits
HOMETOWN: Port Elizabeth
Johannesburg - Reeve Frosler reacts faster than he accelerates up the flanks when he has to talk about his memorable moment in his young football career.
“There’s no doubt about it, it’s playing in the World Cup in Chile for the national Under-17 team,” Frosler says, the excitement in his voice unmistakable.
“Being able to play in the World Cup is everyone’s dream.
“I managed to make that dream a reality at the age of 17. It’s something that’s in the history books because I was part of the first South African men’s Under-17 team that played in a World Cup. But it doesn’t stop there.
“When you look at the group that played in Chile, it’s a talented group that can go far.
“We can go to the next World Cup (as Under-20s) and who knows what more we can achieve in the years to come.
“The bigger picture is to be in the World Cup in 2022 with Bafana Bafana.”
It’s a mouthful but that’s just how much the 18-year-old believes in his talent and that of the group he played in the World Cup with in Chile last year.
He should know because he was among the founding members of that Amajimbos team.
Frosler, pictured, was involved from the first game right up to the last in Chile.
The versatile Bidvest Wits player, he can play as an attacking midfielder, left-back and right-back, has continued in that note with the national Under-20 team that qualified for the African Youth Championship to be played in Zambia next year.
The tournament that will run from February 26 - March 12 also serves as qualifiers for the Under-20 World Cup in South Korea.
The semi-finalists will represent the African continent at the global showpiece in Asia.
Frosler will slot in wherever the coach puts him, having starred in Chile out of position at left-back before he was pushed to midfield on the left.
“I am a midfielder,” Frosler said. “That’s what Wits signed me as. I played a few games for the Under-17s as a midfielder at first.
“The coach (Molefi Ntseki) asked me to play at right-back to fill in the void that was there. I had to adapt and I managed to do okay to a point that I got used to it.
“But obviously being played out of position at the World Cup put me under pressure.
I had never played at left-back. The coach demanded something from me and I needed to give him what I could.
“I gave it my best and I think I did okay.”
It’s that positive mind-set that has seen him make true the promise he made to his mother before Wits called him up for a trial stint with their academy two years ago.
The answer, when he was asked if he could come from his home in Port Elizabeth to be assessed at Milpark, was also quick to come out of his mouth.
“I said, yes please! I would love to be there’. That was in 2014,” Frosler reminisced. “I came up to Johannesburg for a week. I was successful in that week. I went back home.
“A few days later I got a call from the club saying that they want me back.
“That’s where I started. They were all proud of me at home, especially my mother. A year before that I had spoken to her telling her that I don’t want to be in PE but I want to play professional football.
“I moved closer to achieving that when I joined Wits’ academy. Now I am playing for the reserves. I have grown a lot since then. Everything is just going well for me so far.”
And with next year's trip to Zambia likely to end up in South Korea, Frosler could well have two World Cups under his belt before he is 20 years old.
The Star