Harrison Frost: a talented young footballer who happens to be deaf

“I’m not a deaf footballer, I’m a footballer who happens to be deaf. If I never use it as an excuse it cant be used as a reason.
Nothing should stop you from doing things you love. I love playing football”

Harrison Frost is an Under 13 footballer at Wimbledon Academy. He spent time at Brighton and Millwall’s football academies before winning the FA National Futsal cup with his grass roots team. This success brought him to Wimbledon’s attention and he was offered a contract at their pro academy club.

Harrison has been identified by the FA’s Disability Talent ID team as being a future potential international player and has been at Wimbledon for 3 years now. Since joining he has played against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, West Ham and Chelsea.

Last year he travelled as part of a squad to play in an international Futsal tournament in Lithuania against Eastern European teams. His team won the tournament and he had the privilege of being chosen to lift the trophy.

Harrison spoke to us about his football journey so far and how he’s managing to keep his skills up during lockdown.

Hi Harrison, congratulations on your success so far! Can you tell me how you first got into football and when did you realise you had a talent for it?         

I started playing to make friends and just have some fun, I joined my first team Crawley Panthers at 6 years old. One day I was picked out by a Brighton scout and I spent a year at the Albion talent centre.

The scout was also a coach at AS Eastbourne and I loved the way his team played. They had the best players. He always stayed in touch and I joined his team at Under 9s.

As for realising my talent, it’s really been others noticing me play and thinking they could help me improve rather than me noticing any talent myself. If you work as hard at something you love, you can eventually become talented at it. But I think it’s hard work and love for what your doing that stands out the most.

The player I look up too and model my game on the most is Busquets at Barcelona, I’ve studied him a lot.

Are you the only person with deafness in your family? What communication methods or aids do you use?

I’m the only person with deafness in my family and I have a moderate to severe loss. I use Phonak hearing aids in both ears to help me hear and I use speech to communicate, although I went to the chemist the other day with my Dad as I had an eye infection and the lady was wearing a mask and I couldn’t understand her. So maybe without knowing I’ve also relied more on lip reading and expressions than I thought I did!

If I’m playing and I’m too far away to pick up speech in my aids, I tend to know when the coaches are talking to me, I sense how the game is going and if it needs to change, I think I read the game well.

From the coaches actions on the sidelines I always know exactly what they mean and if they’re talking to me.

I think if I ever play in a big crowd and loud atmosphere, this will actually give me an advantage because it’ll be difficult for everyone else to hear. I don’t need to run over and ask what’s being said, I just know. I try to think like a coach when I’m playing and manage the game in my head. I play defensive midfield, so I’m always thinking about my positioning and what the other team are doing.

Have you ever felt your deafness made things harder football wise or has it made you more determined? Does deafness have its advantages in the sport?

Deaf people have to work harder and concentrate more at school and just about anywhere else just to hear and understand what’s being said. So I think the level of hard work and concentration I have all day comes with me to football.

I’ve always had to look around more when playing to make up for not hearing as well, I believe I have a better understanding of what’s going on in the game than most others, I have a good awareness of danger from the opposition and where my own team mates are from scanning and that’s because my hearing forced me to use my eyes more at football from a young age.

I have to prepare myself differently than others before games or training. I always get an early night.In the morning I get up early and stick my aids to my head using double sided tape.

So as soon as I wake up I’m preparing myself for the game and my thoughts are on that straight away. I don’t listen to music or have any other distractions like others.

I’ve not asked for any allowances and I’d never want any either. In football people watch you play a lot before they know anything about you, or make a decision on you. Nobody that wanted me to play or trial for them would have known I was deaf before approaching me.

When I’ve then told people I’m deaf, they’re usually shocked at first, but they would have already seen what I can do on the pitch and made their minds up by then.

I’ve never had anyone that I know doubt me because of my hearing, but I know there are probably people that would say I can’t do it. That makes me determined to do well.

What are your ambitions?

My ambition is to just keep doing what I can to stay at Wimbledon. I want to stay at the club as long as I can, but I’ll only be there as long as they want me. I must keep working hard on what I’m doing now and not to think too much about the future. I prefer to set myself one small target at a time.

During lockdown I’m working on my speed, my footwork and my longer passing on my own. If I can improve those things, then I’ve achieved something out of this and when I get back to Wimbledon, it’ll help me push on further.

At the moment because of lockdown I do miss the boys, the coaches and just going training a lot. I love being at training and working with my team mates. Training on your own just isn’t the same. We do zoom chats, but it’s not the same as the feeling of training and working together on the pitch.

What do you feel has been your favourite moment or most memorable achievement?

My best and proudest moment so far at Wimbledon is when I was on trial and they asked to speak to me and my Dad after training. I had been at Brighton before and had a trial at Millwall the season before Wimbledon and when the coaches at Millwall asked to speak to us after training one day they said they wouldn’t be signing me. So I knew what it was like to be rejected.

I loved being at Wimbledon and so I felt so nervous as they walked over and then they said I’d done well and they’d like to sign me! It felt such a relief and then going into the office to sign and holding the shirt up was a proud moment.

I prefer to look at that moment as the beginning of something, rather than an achievement as I want bigger achievements at Wimbledon than just signing.

But getting my own kit and training for the first time as a real part of the team and a signed player, everyone was saying welcome and well done, plus knowing the coach had put his trust in me and asked the club to sign me made me very proud, that was probably my proudest moment so far.

What’s next for you football wise?

I have one year left on my contract before they decide on my next one, I’m fully focused on being awarded that. It’s down to me to carry on working hard on the things I need to improve. If they think I’m still progressing, then hopefully they’ll give me the chance to continue.

What advice would you give to other budding footballers who are deaf?

I think the main thing is to not let being deaf get in the way. There’s no reason you can’t compete at a high level in any team sport if your good enough.

Football has helped me massively with confidence at school, I’m captain of the school team and I’ve made lots of friends through playing with and against people my age and that meant I already knew a lot of people when I moved to secondary school.

Like I said, being deaf has its advantages. It makes you who you are. Just go ahead and do it. Be confident, study the game, watch as much football as you can, practice every chance you get and play for coaches that have belief and trust in you.

Be brave, work hard and most of all believe in yourself and enjoy it.

You can watch Harrison in action and see an interview with AI media here.