Goalkeeper is regarded as the most specialised position in football, and because of his skinny physique, Reon October has often been advised that the position is not ideal for him.
But the 22-year-old second-year BA student at UWC was not willing to give up what he has loved since the age of seven years old.
“I might not look like a goalkeeper but I enjoy being one,” the Manchester United fanatic October comments. “To me it is one of the best positions in football that excites me all the time.”
And October, who hails from East London in the Eastern Cape, is good at it. His sterling performance has earned him two consecutive FNB Man of the Match awards during UWC’s first two matches in the Varsity Football, a 2-2 draw at home against the University of Johannesburg and a 1-0 away defeat to the North West University.
In general a terms this means the team didn’t play well, but October disagrees.
“Putting my individual performance aside, the team played well but switched off in the last 19 minutes of the first game and we could have won the last game (against NWU) should we have taken the opportunities,” he explained.
October, who plays for Maties in the Boland region of the Regional League, believes the UWC team will be a force to be reckoned with in this year’s Varsity Football, despite picking up a single point out of a possible six so far.
“We have a crop of brilliant players in the team. In fact, I think this is the best squad the University has ever had. I don’t think we are far off from other universities judging from what happened in the past two games. We are just a bit slow to get out of the starting blocks. As soon as we get going we will look threatening and we can make the top four,” he said.
UWC will count on October’s heroics when they seek their first Varsity Football win at home against the University of Free State on Monday.
After it was predicted that his team will finish last, October says the team is fired up to prove the critics wrong.
“We use those comments as motivation. The mood in the camp has gone better than at the beginning. We are now more like a family. The guys are pumped up for Monday’s game and the University of the Free State is in for a bumpy ride,” he warned.
By Myolisi Gophe
