Freestyle football champion Nathan Harrison shines at Oasis Youth Day event

Nathan Harrison, 14, a Grade 8 pupil at Pelican Park High School, was crowned winner of the Schaapkraal-based Oasis 'Reach For Your Dreams' Youth Day Freestyle Ball Juggling competition.

As the saying goes, if you’ve got it, flaunt it, and young Nathan was not shy to show off his skills with a set of intricate moves reminiscent of a jugglers’ balancing act.

“I pick up my freestyle moves while playing soccer with my friends in the streets,” Nathan said, after scoring a brace in his side's 3-1 win in an under-14 South Peninsula LFA fixture, at Rooikrans sports complex on Saturday July 21. 

“My favourite freestyle move is "around the world", he said, demonstrating a move in which the young freestyler plays the ball off of one foot, then circles up and over the ball before returning underneath to play the ball again.

“But if I have to choose between freestyle and regular football, I would  definitely choose being a regular football player,” said Nathan, before returning to the pitch for an under-16 match.

While he may have won the crowd over with his tricks, coach Bongani Mathiso prefers sticking to the basics and will have none of the fancy stuff during a match. What  impresses the coach most is the player’s game intelligence and willingness to work hard.

“Nathan plays as a centre back but also as centre forward, as we encourage our players to be able to play more than one position,” Mathiso said.

“He is a well-mannered boy who is very coachable. He can read the game, is comfortable on the ball and a good communicator,” said Mathiso, who has been involved with Oasis since 2012, following his return from Mexico 2012, where he represented South Africa at the Homeless World Cup.

“He plays for our under-14 and under-16 sides because of his ability. In game situations he is always calm on the ball, vocal and always willing to try new things,” said Mathiso. Over the years, Oasis has been instrumental in selecting squads to represent the country at the global streetball event and was featured in the Netflix movie “The Beautiful Game” which was inspired by the Homeless World Cup. 

Head of sport at Oasis and head coach for South African Homeless World Cup squad, Mathiso understands all too well the impact sport, especially soccer, can have on impressionable youngsters, giving them something to aspire to beyond merely playing ball. 

"We use football as a catalyst to transfer life skills and assist our beneficiaries with their school work. 

Oasis design and marketing manager, Robin van Dieman, agrees, saying: "Our primary function is to empower youth and adults to become self-sustaining, dignified members of society. We take a holistic approach that combines sport, especially football and netball, to steer young people away from crime and gangsterism, while also offering housing and re-integration services for the homeless.

As far as ball juggling is concerned, a freestyle fire has been lit in Cape Town’s communities, Van Dieman said.

“In short, it’s not just about tricks...it’s about transformation. Freestyle becomes a gateway to the same empowerment Oasis has championed for years. It channels the same core values of skill-building, self-expression, and positive youth engagement, but with a creative twist,” he said.

The brainchild of Oasis and former pro-footballer, Giovanni Rector, who said the ball juggling competition was part of a wider project targeting communities across the region through lively drill sessions and hands-on ball mastery workshops. 

“Youth from every corner were given a taste of freestyle - many for the first time. These weren’t just training sessions; they were auditions for a movement,” said Rector, who had spells with various clubs, locally and abroad, notably FC Fortune, Excelsior Mouscron in Belgium  and Brøndby IF in the Danish Superliga.

“When we started knocking on doors with a ball and a vision, we weren’t selling a competition - we were inviting young people to co-create something of their own,”  he said. 

“That message landed hard. By the time Youth Day rolled around, anticipation had reached fever pitch,” he said.