Bungoma youngster chases dream of playing in Premier League

Andrew Waswa dribbles the ball during a past friendly match with the Kenya Under-17 national team. PHOTO | POOL


What you need to know:

  • He is determined to follow in the footsteps of former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Mugubi Wanyama and play elite football in the lucrative premiership
  • Waswa, who has been coached by a member of the Harambee Stars’ technical resources, Hamis Mohammed, from his childhood, is currently a student at Abbey College in Manchester, England
  • Despite the fact that Waswa stays in Manchester, where he would automatically be great fan of either of the two Manchester teams — United or City — Waswa is a die-hard fan of London’s Arsenal


A 16-year-old footballer from the sleepy village of Makhese in Bungoma County visualises himself playing in the English Premier League.

He is determined to follow in the footsteps of former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Mugubi Wanyama and play elite football in the lucrative premiership.

A confident Andrew Waswa, who started playing football at the age of eight years, says his vision and mission is “to become the second Kenyan to play in the lucrative Premier League” and score goals like his childhood idol, Dutch striker Robin van Persie.

Van Persie played for trophy-starved Arsenal before crossing over to bitter rivals Manchester United in the 2012-13 season, winning the English Premier League title with the “Red Devils” the same season, completing a total of 280 league appearances scoring 144 goals with 53 assists.

The young footballer from a humble background, who also plays for the Kenya national under-17 team, admires other former and current English Premier League stars like Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o, Salomon Kalou, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, among others.

Waswa, who has been coached by a member of the Harambee Stars’ technical resources, Hamis Mohammed, from his childhood, is currently a student at Abbey College in Manchester, England.

Abbey College was founded in 1990 and is part of the Alpha Plus Group of Independent Colleges.

The son of prominent Bungoma businessman Lendrix Waswa, young Waswa draws his passion and zeal from the support of his father, who has been closely monitoring both his academic prowess and football skills to ensure that he strikes the right balance.

Waswa, an alumnus of Riara School, scored 411 marks in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and joined Moi High School, Kabarak, where he wanted to excel academically while at the same time develop his footballing career.

“His father ensured that I do follow him to coach him every Friday at Kabarak so that he does not lose out in developing his football skills,” said coach Mohamed.

Mohamed added that it was while at Kabarak that an opportunity for the speedy and strong striker showed up when a French football scout visited the country to identify young talent for trials in Europe.

Waswa was one of the few players who was identified for the trials in Europe.

“Out of 80 young skilled footballers who came for trials, only two were selected for trials in Europe and he was lucky to be selected to go for trials at Olympique Marseille in France while at the age of 15,” the coach added.

“He is a strong and very first striker with the body needed in Europe, that's why I have nicknamed him “Pogba” because of his strong physique.

Andrew Waswa (right) during training with Kariobangi Sharks in January, 2019 at the Utalii ground in Nairobi. PHOTO | POOL


Marseille is managed by veteran coach Andre Villas-Boas, a Portuguese national who worked as an assistant coach at Porto under the self-acclaimed “special one” Jose Mourinho, the current Tottenham Hotspur coach.

Villas-Boas coached Porto FC after Mourinho then, later on, managed Chelsea and Spurs, among other elite clubs in Europe, before getting the current job at the Ligue 1 club, Marseille.

Marseille is the only French club to have won the popular Uefa Champions League in 1993 and has also achieved two Championship and Cup "Doubles" in 1972 and 1989.

It was when he was going for trials at Marseille that his father realised that his son could excel in top-flight football, and decided to transfer him from Kabarak, a more academic-oriented school, to Abbey College, which offers the chance to study GCSE, A-level, combined studies or the International Foundation Programme in the mornings, and football training sessions by professional coaches in the afternoon.

At Abbey, students gain qualifications for entry into university alongside intensive football training which could lead to playing professional or semi-professional football in the future.

Male and female students who are 14 years old and above and have a passion for football are given an opportunity to develop their football careers at the institution.

Waswa is currently a Year 10 student in the GSCE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) system.

He’s currently back home in Kenya due to the coronavirus pandemic and also due to the fact that it’s now summer break in British schools. He’s among students who were due to sit summer exams that were cancelled as schools closed due to the coronavirus.

If he does well at Abbey College and at the academy, the he could be lucky to be on track join one of the Premier League clubs.

Andrew Waswa (right) with teammates during a training session at the Manchester Academy's International House in February, 2020. PHOTO | POOL


Despite the fact that Waswa stays in Manchester, where he would automatically be great fan of either of the two Manchester teams — United or City — Waswa is a die-hard fan of London’s Arsenal.

“After the global attack by the coronavirus, I have been doing my own practice every day at home and I dream of playing for Arsenal because of their beautiful style of playing football,” Waswa told Nation Sport.

The young Kenyan believes the “Gunners” are on the mend. “We (Arsenal) haven’t had the best of seasons as we have been changing coaches and it will take some time for us to get back to our winning ways,” he observes.

Waswa’s premiership dreams would be realised through the systematic development of football talent in the European system that boasts many commercial academies which train young players and then take them for try-outs with a view to catching the eye of top, licensed European agents.

At the Manchester academy, he juggles football and academics with precision. “We usually study in the morning from 9am to 1pm, and then go to the football academy from 2pm to 4pm,”he explains.

Andrew Waswa during personal training session at the KCB Sports Club in Nairobi on July 10, 2020. Waswa has been training in isolation with his coach during the Covid-19 lockdown. PHOTO | POOL


The academy has between 30 and 40 players with Nigeria and Morocco the other African nations represented besides Kenya.

Waswa’s passion for football started when he was a toddler.

He would watch football on television and was an avid player of the Play Station video games.

"My parents at first didn't believe I loved football and would only think I was only playing for fun, until one day when my dad came and saw me play. He was very much impressed with my skills," Waswa Junior recalls. He sees football as “a good thing” that can help keep many youths from bad vices in the community like drug abuse and unprotected early sex.

Academically, Waswa would also like to be an engineer and maintains that focus, discipline and prayer is the key to one being good in whatever he or she does.

Apart from playing football, he loves to drive cars and can't wait to get 18 and get a driving license.

Many foreign players enrolled in British academies end up in the England under-21s and senior sides after taking up British citizenship.

Andrew Waswa at Etihad Stadium during the Manchester City vs Fulham English Premier League match in January, 2020. PHOTO | POOL



But Waswa, already a Kenya under-17 international, would love to play for Harambee Stars, rather than wear the England strip.

“I’m all out for Kenya. But also, you have to think of your family and you can be dragged into something else (foreign citizenship).

“But from my heart, I want to play for Kenya, unless I’m advised otherwise by those handling me.”

Speaking with Waswa, you can’t fail to notice his maturity and vision. With school out and youngsters left to their own devices, you would expect him to make merry.

But, no, he’s focused and has drawn his training programme for the summer break.

“Today is Saturday so I’m taking it easy and tomorrow (Sunday), I will be in the gym. I’m trying to programme myself because I know that discipline determines who will become the best player.”