Mercy Wanyama’s battle to the top

Standing at an impressive six feet tall, it is impossible not to spot the towering Mercy Wanyama anywhere she walks.

Strutting shoulder high, the lanky lady would easily walk into any modelling agency.

Mercy, a younger sister of Harambee Stars captain and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama, has been in the headlines over the past two weeks.

Reason?

She led her team, Equity Banks Hawks, to their first Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) women’s Premier League title after just two seasons in the top flight.

Mercy was instrumental in the bankers’ success in the playoffs, sinking 36 points, including 20 rebounds, in their 73-68 win over Kenya Ports Authority in Game Five at the Nyayo National Stadium.

Her heroics saw her voted the league’s Most Valuable Player as she finally lay her hands on the league crown after almost a decade of heartache.

“This lady is on demand and you very lucky she had time for you today my friend,” says her public relations manager, as I usher them to some seats at the Daily Nation sports desk.

I had been assigned the story on Monday, February 21, 2017, by my editor and after been informed to submit the story by Wednesday, I duly set out on the task.

I knew it would be easy securing Mercy’s contacts, but, boy, was I wrong.

After several calls, it became apparent I was not dealing with just an ordinary player.

Mercy could only be located through her PRO, whose phone was out of reach.

My colleague, photojournalist Chris Omollo, who was also helping me secure an interview, later informed that he had spoken to her and that she would call us on Wednesday to discuss the venue for the interview.

My luck turned the next day when at 10.14am, I received a call from Mercy’s PRO, Geoffrey Nayema, informing me that she had accepted the interview and would arrive at Nation Centre by 11am.

“I’m not a very public person and that is why I’m not very accessible, unlike Victor and Mariga, who are all over social media,” she says, after I narrate my ordeal on trying to secure the interview.

Her smile goes a long way in breaking the ice as I pull out my recorder and place it close to her.

Born 25 years ago to Noah and Mildred Wanyama in Nairobi’s Muthurwa slum, Mercy’s love for sports was nurtured at a tender age as she watched her brothers playing football after they came from school.

The seventh born in a family of eight- three girls and five boys, was to follow in the footsteps of his siblings as well as his parents.

Their father, Noah Wanyama, played for AFC Leopards and Harambee Stars as a left winger while her mother played both volleyball and netball for the national teams.

“I think we were just born a sporting family, growing up we were known as the football family in the estate because we would head to the pitch immediately  after class and only darkness would send us away,” she recalls.

Basketball was never quite her choice. her first love was football. She played as a goalkeeper for Nairobi’s Muthurwa Country Bus Primary School.

“I think because of my height, my friends felt I was suited to be in between the posts and to say the truth, I enjoyed myself.”

After completing Primary School, she proceeded to Shiners Girls High School in Nakuru and surprisingly took up netball under the advice of her mother, who played for the national women’s netball team and was then coach at the Ministry of Information and Communications netball team.

Still keen on football and netball, it was the then Lang’ata High School principal, Peter Orero, who noticed her skills at a netball championship and convinced her to switch to basketball.

“He walked straight to where I was and told me that basketball is where my future is and I should not waste my height, power and skills in netball,” says Mercy.

She moved to Lang’ata High in 2008 following the 2007/08 post-election violence.

She says she opted to join Lang’ata, whose coach Orero was a long-time family friend, having taught and coached her elder brothers Macdonald Mariga, Thomas Wanyama, Sylvester Wanyama, Victor Mugabe and sister Volnet Wanyama at Kamukunji High School in Nairobi.

She led Lang’ata to the Nairobi provincial basketball title in 2009 sinking 24 points in their 51-36 final win over St George’s Girls.

They finished third in the national finals behind Shimba Hills and Tigoi and went on to win bronze in the East African Secondary School Games in Kigali, Rwanda.

She then joined Premier League side Storms, while still a Form Three student.

After completing high school in 2010, Mercy landed a four-year basketball scholarship to play for the California Baptist University in the United States of America and a chance to play in the elite National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) league.

However, her dream was shattered after the US Embassy declined to give her a visa in the heat of the 9/11 terror attacks.

“I was crashed. I think I cried for weeks in my bed and couldn’t believe that someone thought I was a terrorist.”

She was later selected for the national team that featured in the 2011 African Games in Maputo, Mozambique.

She revealed that changing clubs after playing for Storms for eight years was a great eye opener and contributed to her sudden growth and rise in basketball within one year.

“Equity head coach David Maina agreed to coach me privately at NIS School in Lavington.

Through his advice and personalized training, I was able to improve on my shots, finishing and post moves,” she said.

Her massive improvement in the game saw her being ‘poached’ by KPA for the 2016 Fiba Africa Zone ‘V’ Clubs Basketball Championship held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which she aided the dockers to win.

“It was awesome to play in the competition and I think that also helped my growth and it was a turning point that helped my club Equity,” she added.

Before lifting the KBF league title, the closest Mercy had come to the trophy was a semi-final finish with her previous club Storms several years ago.

She credits her siblings for her rise to success. 

“We are all an inspiration to each other, but everyone pursues their own ambitions,” says Mercy.

“We always draw inspiration from each other’s success, however small, and work hard to achieve our dreams. I don’t want to live in the shadows of my siblings and I am glad that I am not under much attention from my schoolmates.”

Mercy explains that her parents have always given them the leeway to pursue their ambitions.

Her sister Cynthia Wanyama is a netball player with the Ministry of Information and Communication, Alice Wanyama was forced to retire from basketball after picking a nagging injury and Volnet Wanyama is a former KPA basketball player currently featuring for former champions Eagle Wings.

Mercy has not given up hope of one day playing in the top women’s basketball league in the world, America’s Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

“God willing, the WNBA will soon have another test of Kenya’s best,” vowed Mercy, who has a three-year-old son Jarvis Wanyama.

“I named him after his grandfather and he looks like he is following in his footsteps because grandpa was a great footballer,” she says.

Away from basketball, Mercy, who has Bachelor of Journalism degree from the Africa Nazarene University, runs her family business with her siblings and believes it is paramount that sports men and women invest wisely.

“Sports has opened doors for me and my siblings, but one needs to be smart and ensure they think about the future. Save some money, put it in a business so that it can help you in the future when you are no longer playing,” Mercy’s advice to fellow sports men and women.

I ask her whether people stop her on the streets to greet her or take photos.

After all her brother Victor is arguably Kenya’s most famous footballer at the moment, having moved from Southampton to Spurs.

“Well, if someone stops me and says hi, I gladly do it but I am not into all that publicity stuff. I am not event on social media, imagine. That is how much I love my privacy but I suppose I cannot run away from it,” she says.

Recently, Victor alongside teammate Eric Dier were voted by their teammates as the worst dressed players at the club.  Mercy scoffs at this development defending his brother as one of the most ‘fashionable men’ around.

“I think everyone has their own taste and preferences but to say that Victor is badly dressed is way off. I think he has more fashion sense than me,” Mercy says jokingly.