The football administrator and founding member of the Namibian Premier League was born at Berseba village in the //Kharas region and grew up between Walvis Bay and Bethanie. Vries matriculated at Suiderlig Secondary School at Keetmanshoop in 1981. “When I grew older I started playing as a midfielder.
But one day at Suiderlig in 1979, where I was playing for the D team, our goalie didn’t turn up, and I volunteered to stand in,” he says. The coach was impressed with his goalkeeping and decided Vries would no longer play outfield again. That was the beginning of his goalkeeping career, he says.
Shortly afterwards he was promoted to being the goalkeeper of the school’s B team. In 1980 Vries was appointed goalkeeper of the A team to become the school’s first choice goalie. “During that same year we started a team called Young Beauties which played in the Southern First Division.
“I completely fell in love with my new position as goalkeeper. I was short, but we trained very hard during those years. I was also doing karate at the time, which helped me a lot to be calm and brave.
I was also able to jump very high given my height,” he says. The retired star holds the distinction of not losing a single match while in goals for Young Beauties, who became a dominant force in the south throughout his matric year in 1981. The talented goalkeeper joined Katutura giants Orlando Pirates a year after he finished school in 1982.
“When I came to Pirates in 1982 I was very young.