Green Commandos Star's Journey from Rejection to Redemption

He is the Kakamega County and Western Region kingpin, the boy who lit up the KSSSA nationals in Thika with six goals. On paper, his rise looks smooth. It wasn’t.

The Green Commandos forward, now the school’s top scorer and a key figure in their FEASSSA campaign, once walked away from football altogether. Not through injury. Through indiscipline.

He was chased out of the Green Commandos youth setup.

“My football life started very early as a young kid. It got to a place where I did not want to play again, so I got a guardian who held my hand and returned me to football. I trusted myself and said, If I come back, I must perform and I will make it,” he recalled.

Those are not the words of a player who has had it easy. They are the words of someone who has already seen his career almost slip away before it even began.

A Hard Lesson at Under-12

The turning point came in the Under-12 team. He had talent, but his behaviour cost him.

“I had left football because a lot was going on. The first time I was in, I was chased because I was indisciplined, but I came back to the team and apologised and continued to play,” he said.

The apology opened the door. The lesson changed the player.

Back under the guidance of his guardian, he returned to the Under-12 setup, swallowed his pride and rebuilt his place in the team. From there, his game – and his attitude – began to shift.

The youngster, capable of operating on either flank and even at left-back, decided to strip his life down to two pillars: football and education.

“That was at the Under-12 team. The thing that has changed me a lot is that I decided to focus more on football and education, so I need to train hard, and the training is what is helping me to gain a lot.”

The work soon showed.

Breakout Year in Form One

By 2024, still only in Form One, he forced his way into the school’s main team. Not just as a squad player, but as a difference-maker.

During the sub-county games he scored more than five goals, dragging the side through to the county level and announcing himself as the new spearhead of Kakamega’s attack.

The performances did not go unnoticed. He was promoted to the Green Commandos senior side, then competing in the FKF Division One league. A Form One student, suddenly playing in Kenya’s third tier.

He made his Division One debut while still in his first year of high school. Then came another step up: a call to the Talanta Hela Under-19 team. The trajectory was steep, but he kept climbing.

National Team Education

The biggest shift, though, arrived in national colours.

Selected for the Kenya Under-17 side, the Green Commandos prospect was redeployed as a left wing-back during the CECAFA Under-17 AFCON qualifiers in Addis Ababa. For a player known for his goals and attacking instincts, it was a tactical jolt.

He did not sit on the bench and learn from afar. He played every single minute of the campaign, never substituted, asked to lock down his flank defensively and still surge forward to launch attacks from deep.

For someone already feared for his dangerous crosses, corner kicks, powerful runs and fierce shooting, the assignment added a new layer to his game.

“At the national team, I used to play as a wing-back. I did not play as an attacking player. So the experience I got there was valuable when I came here. I was pushed to play offensively, and so I used the experience I got as a left-back and brought it forward,” he explained.

That spell with the Under-17s sharpened his reading of the game and sped up his decision-making. The boy who once relied on raw pace and power now understood space, timing and defensive structure.

The result is a more complete player: a forward who presses, tracks back and still carries the ball with menace, blending national-team defensive lessons with his natural attacking instincts for Green Commandos.

One Last Shot in FEASSSA

Right now, his school needs that complete version of him.

The KSSSA national champions have endured a bruising start to their FEASSSA campaign. Two games, two defeats – first to Uganda’s Kyadondo Secondary School, then to Tanzania’s Urambo Secondary School.

Their title defence has effectively slipped away, but not the chance to leave a mark.

They face Bukedea Comprehensive of Uganda in their final group match, a fixture that has become about pride, response and standards rather than progression.

For the boy who once walked away from football, the mission is clear. One more game. One more chance to lead from the front.

The school’s top scorer now wants to help Green Commandos sign off with maximum points.