It so happened that the eye-opener that Ryan Botha would have ever dreamt about was delivered for him by way of a trial at English giants Manchester United while being a high school student.
Just lacing up your boots next to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the reserve side and then seeing David Beckham and Peter Schmeichel up-close as they arrived for training.
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Botha details these very experiences in a dream opportunity for the 17-year-old from Durban.
"My dad (David Botha) played for Durban Stars and was in the SA Schools team alongside Gordon Igesund, so I got to kick a ball from the age of two and joined my first football club at the age of six.
"From then on, I played soccer throughout my childhood even though I did get to play rugby, cricket, and baseball while at school.
"In 1998 I went on trials to Manchester United which meant I missed the Natal Under-20 trials but when I came back, they still put me in the squad for the tournament in Pretoria.
"At that tournament, I was the top goal scorer and was selected for the Under-20 squad aged 17 and it was at that competition that I was scouted by Glyn Binkin who then became my agent for most of my career.
"He then took me to SuperSport United (1999/00 season) where I signed just after I left school," says Botha – who is now 42 and a resident in Cape Town.
Botha details the extraordinary story of how he clinched a trial at English giants Manchester United at the peak of the Premier League dominance.
"I was playing for a top amateur club called Stella FC and one of our coaches there, Johnny Brooks played for Man U in the 1960s and he contacted them about me, and they invited me over.
"I went for a month in 1998 when they went on to win the treble.
"At that time, I was in matric, and they invited me a second time at the end of my matric year because there was some process that they were going to put me through due to my passport.
"They quite liked me and wanted to sign me but, in the end, whatever paperwork issues didn't work out and I came back to South Africa.
"But then the fact is that I was at Man United twice after being scouted at Stella.
"The day I landed there they asked if I wanted to train and I said yes so, I joined the reserve team which had Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jordi Cruyff, and Brian McClair who was in his late 30s.
"The usual team that I trained with was the Under-17s and I used to see David Beckham and Peter Schmeichel arriving at training.
"I was at Old Trafford when Man U drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich in the (1998/99) Champions League group stages," he says.
Did you realise how huge an opportunity this was at the time?
"To be honest I didn't until I got there and realised what was really happening there.
"All I had seen prior to that was what I saw on television which looked amazing, but I didn't understand the magnitude of the club.
"When I got there, I saw the facilities and how they lived, eat, the professionalism, the stadium, and the atmosphere… that was when I realised that this is massive.
"What you see on television and in real life are two different things.
"I remember walking out of training sessions as a nobody, but fans asked for my autography because I was wearing Man U training kit.
"I was a nobody and was just surprised.
"But that is what made take note of how big this was to be training there because it made me a somebody," says Botha who then went on to play in Finland, Turkey, and Cyprus.
"My style of football always had a European mentality even though I played with South African flair.
"My upbringing wasn't about street football but playing in a structure which made me a natural for Europe.
"I couldn't get into England at 17 and then had the Fulham scout following me while I was at FC Inter.
"The scout from Fulham told me they were interested in me, and I linked with my agent Glyn.
"The deal eventually fell flat due to a variety of issues, and I ended up going to Turkey.
"I heard Fulham had followed me for a while from when I was 16 til I was 23," says Botha.
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