From Rejection to Redemption: Green Commandos Star's Inspiring Journey
The top scorer at this year’s KSSSA national games in Thika did not stroll to the summit. He fought his way back there.
Six goals fired his school to the regional showpiece, earning him the tag of Kakamega County and Western Region’s standout forward. Yet not long ago, the same player had walked away from the game, thrown out of the Green Commandos youth setup for indiscipline and convinced his football dream was over.
“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 explained.
That low point became the hinge of his career.
As a youngster in the Under-12 team, he had been chased away for poor discipline. He left the sport altogether, weighed down by issues off the pitch. Then his guardian stepped in, dragged him back towards the game, and pushed him to make things right.
“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 added.
That apology changed everything.
The once wayward kid returned with a different edge. Versatile and hungry, he learned to operate on either flank as an attacker and slot in at left-back when needed. Training stopped being a routine and became a lifeline.
“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.”
Soon, the transformation started to show on the pitch.
In 2024, still only in Form One, he broke into the school’s main team. He did not just blend in; he made noise. More than five goals in the sub-county games powered the side to the county stage and underlined his status as a rising force in Kakamega.
The performances caught more eyes. He was promoted to the Green Commandos senior team, then playing in the FKF Division One league. While still in Form One, he debuted in the third tier, a rare leap for a player his age, and earned a call-up to the Talanta Hela Under-19 side.
The real shift, though, came when the national flag entered the picture.
With the Kenya Under-17 national team at the CECAFA Under-17 AFCON qualifiers in Addis Ababa, the Green Commandos prospect was pushed into a new role. He lined up as a left wing-back, not the attacking wide man he had grown used to being.
He did not miss a minute.
Every game, every second, he was on the pitch. Tracking runners, timing tackles, then exploding forward with overlapping runs to spark attacks from deep. For a player already known for dangerous crosses, wicked corner kicks, powerful runs and a fierce shot, the defensive schooling added a new dimension.
“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 said.
That blend now defines him.
The defensive instincts picked up with Kenya Under-17 sharpen his decision-making for Green Commandos. He reads danger quicker. He chooses his moments to burst forward with more clarity. The player who once relied purely on raw pace and power now sees the game a beat earlier.
Back at school level, the numbers tell their own story. Top scorer at the KSSSA nationals in Thika. Six goals. A constant threat from wide areas and set pieces. A leader by example in a dressing room that once watched him stumble.
Yet even as his star rises, the team has hit turbulence at the FEASSSA games.
The KSSSA national champions have opened their regional campaign with back-to-back defeats, falling to Uganda’s Kyadondo Secondary School and Tanzania’s Urambo Secondary School. One more group game remains, against Bukedea Comprehensive of Uganda.
There is no title on the line for them now. Just pride.
For their leading scorer, that is enough. After everything he has clawed back from – rejection, indiscipline, the decision to quit – one final group match offers another chance to prove that his turnaround is no passing phase.
He wants to close the group with maximum points. The question now is simple: how far can this new, hardened version of himself carry Green Commandos next?
