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 and ambitious. At that time it wasn’t easy to go straight into the first 11. “You have to take shots from these powerful players during training.
Eben !Gaoseb was the first choice goalkeeper at the time but after two years I established myself on the team. From 1984 I took over as the number until 1987 when I sustained a career-ending injury,” he says. NOT THE END YET Vries was only 25 when his career ended after picking up an injury against Pirates’ bitter rivals Black Africa during a fiercely contested Katutura derby match that ended in a two-all stalemate.
“But fortunately enough for me my football career didn’t end there. In fact, it opened bigger and better things for me that later shaped me to be where I am today in the crucial position of league director of the Namibian Football Association (NFA),” he says.The highlight of Vries’ playing career was beating African Stars 1-0 in a thrilling final to win the prestigious Top 16 Easter Tournament at Tsumeb, he says.
He also won the coveted Novel Ford Cup and other minor tournaments at Keetmanshoop, Otjiwarongo, Walvis Bay, as well as in Windhoek. “Another highlight was that I was selected in a very powerful Central Regional team that beat The Birds, a break-away team from Moroka Swallows, 2-0 in a friendly match in Windhoek. “I was part of the team that played against Patrick ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe’s team Ace Mates.
“The I was also called up to replace the legendary Asaria ‘Ndjiva’ Kauami, who was injured in the pre-independence national team for the provincial Impala Cup in South Africa, but I was dropped after Kauami recovered in time to rejoin the team,” Vries says. REGRETS Despite his successful career Vries has some regrets, with the biggest being his inability to grab opportunities, he says. “I got into a very promising business, but due miscalculation and poor decision-making at that time it didn’t work out well.
I think by now I could have been flourishing in business. “The other thing is your associations in life. Who you surround yourself with is very important,” he says.
“Some of us are blessed, especially through your character, how you’re dealing with people and making people laugh, but that also comes with challenges that can make you fall. However, I am grateful that God has blessed me to be able to stand up and talk about football today.” WORK, LIFE Vries is married and has six children.
He is the league administrator of the NFA, responsible for managing the Namibian Premier Football League (NPFL), the Women’s Super League, and all other leagues. “Football has become so challenging nowadays. During our time when I started playing football, it was all about enjoying life through friendship.
You were opposition for that 90 minutes, but after that you are family,” the former footballer says. “Football has played a very important role in the independence of this country. Our top politicians were part of football clubs.
When we travelled to towns to play, that was the time they set up meetings to enhance the struggle.” Vries mentions football leaders like Nico Bessinger, Elliot Hiskia, Dan Tjongarero, Tommy Uushona, Eino Hauwanga, Rudolf Jacobs, Engelhard Gariseb and Five Hochobeb, who doubled up as politicians. “I am so proud that I had so many football leaders as my mentors,” he says.
.
