When Peter Petersen was first called up the national Under-20 squad, he had already earned minutes at Hellenic where he was already aiming for regular game time.
As the call-ups came, Petersen realised that his 'meal ticket' to the junior national team was playing regularly at his club.
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Petersen had to stand his ground considering that he had Craig Rosslee amongst those that he had to negotiate his way for minutes.
However, Petersen stood up for himself and in the year that he moved to Moroka Swallows after turning 20 (2001), he had already piled up 35 appearances as a roving right-back and played as a regular in his last season with the Greek Gods.
"We had it rough coming up because first team minutes is what would get you to the national Under-20 squad," says Petersen who hails from Ocean View, Cape Town.
"The one month I was playing in the rough old Under-19 league which had games on Wednesday nights, then next up I was training with the first team.
"From there, Gavin Hunt threw me in along with the other boys that I came up.
"Next up was the Under-20 squad, if you never played regularly at your PSL club you were in trouble of being dropped.
"That is how different it was with us compared to now because nowadays you rarely find Under-20 players as regulars in the first team of PSL clubs.
"I was stressing about being a regular before I turned 20 because if I don't play at Hellenic then I would lose my place in the Under-20 squad.
"That is how competitive that squad was with Nasief Morris, Tso Vilakazi, Lesley Manyathela (late), Dominic Isaacs, Joseph Makhanya, and Steven Pienaar amongst others already all regulars at their clubs.
"If you were not playing first team football at your club then you knew that a call up will not come to that Under-20 national team.
"I'm not even talking about Under-23.
"With us, there wasn't even a sympathy token that got you into the first team at your club because you were young.
"You had to grind hard.
"I even moved to Swallows aged 20 and became the youngest player there because I needed to take a step up already.
"Do you know that I was even went to Ajax Cape Town when the club was formed in 1999 but Hellenic refused to release me because there was never anything like a free agent back then.
"Today, where will you find Under-20 players as regulars in the PSL.
"No chance!
"It is a serious concern for the country that our Under-20 players are not regulars at the top.
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"For me, I believe that if you are good enough then you should play.
"With me, I benefitted from having a coach as brave as Gavin Hunt who never looked at the age," explains Petersen.