Kenyan wonder boy, 12, dazzles English football

One sunny Saturday morning in April 2008, nine-year-old Henry Ochieng accompanied his father for an informal football training session at a park near their Ilford home in London.

After a few minutes of kicking the ball between themselves, they spotted a man who was also training with his son. It did not take long before they struck a conversation.

The father, Sam Ochieng, recalls casually asking the man how he could enrol his son for professional football.

“He told us, ‘just go and Google Echo Junior Football League,’” Ochieng said.

Months later, Henry was accepted at Buckhurst Hill from Essex, London, one of the football clubs in the non-professional league who were impressed by his dribbling skills. He was, however, put on the reserve team and therefore did not get to showcase his talent often.

One day, though, lady luck smiled on Henry and he was called in as a substitute on the first team.

He went on to score eight goals, winning the heart of his coach, who instantly upgraded him to first team. And at the close of 2008, he was named the best player by the club.

Scouts from West Ham United had been monitoring him and signed him in early 2009. From then Henry has been sporting the club’s light blue and maroon jerseys.

Mark Philips, the Under-13 head coach at the West Ham United academy, says the fact that Henry was chosen means he is a great player.

“He is always asking me questions; always wants to improve himself and he is a good scorer,” Philips said.

Rules bar children below 14 from signing any professional contract with clubs. As a result, Henry has a schoolboy contract with West Ham, which was reinstated to top flight football after spending last season in the championship.

In 2013, he is expected to sign a professional contract that will bring with it a windfall. He is expecting to earn £500 (Sh67,800) a week.

On the day of the interview with Lifestyle, Henry had just returned from training with three of his friends.

Sporting WHU tracksuits, he got into a lengthy discussion with his father. The club is demanding that the midfielder commits two weekdays to full training but administrators at his St Aubyns School will not let him go.

“It is a challenge for us but we are trying to work around it,” Ochieng said.

With the West Ham United Under-13, Henry has played against his contemporaries from the best clubs football has to offer.

“We normally have fixtures on Sundays during the league season. We play all the junior academy teams in the leagues,” he offered.

After being promoted from the championships, this year will see him take on other youngsters from Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, among others in the Barclays Premier League, billed as the best football league in the world.

Indeed, with over 50 medals and over 30 trophies from sports so far, it would not be hard for Henry’s family to make a decision when need arises.

West Ham United academy has produced some of the best players for England national team including John Terry, Glen Johnson, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe and Michael Carrick.

The downside for Kenya is that despite producing a polished mid-fielder Henry, whose parents are Kenyans, the national team Harambee Stars may not benefit from his skills.

Henry has been called up to the England Under-13 national team.

“I prefer England to Kenya,” he said coyly.

Last month, Henry was honoured for his exemplary performance by being selected as the Olympic torchbearer on behalf of the London Borough of Havering, no mean a feat by any standards.

Although he says he wants to direct his energies to football, Marcu Shute, the deputy head teacher at St Aubyns School, says it would be wrong to limit the boy’s choice at such an early stage.

“I’m sure he wants to be a Premier League footballer and I would be glad to have made a tiny contribution to that. But I think his options at this time are limitless,” Shute said.

Henry’s mother Perez Ochieng agrees that her son has other talents that he could explore.

Henry is also a member of the Heroneans Cricket Club in Chigwell and also plays for Essex Crickets Under-13 team.

He is also a singer, a talent that has left people in his neighbourhood questioning if he should pursue a music career.

His mother, who has also been wowed by his sporting talent, says Henry is an inspiration to her as well.

“I look back and say would I have been able to do what he has done? The answer is no, because it’s just amazing” she said.

His sister Maggie describes him as an active and fast boy. “He helps me with my music and piano lessons and I do admire him as a brother and try to be as proactive as he is,” she said. “I love to travel with him to his sport tournaments so that I can have fun days out of the country. I like cheering him, especially when he is at his best in football match.”

His other sister, Comfort, has a lot of love for him and is always ready to help get all his sports gear ready, as he is ever busy.

“Although all my friends expect me to be like him I’m not sporty. I like business and maybe one day I will be his business manager,” Comfort said.

Henry recently represented London Borough of Redbridge at the Virgin mini-marathon and came third overall.

Henry’s parents have in the past brought him to Kenya to bond with local children interested in sports.