As parents begin to fret over Christmas and January school expenses, one teen’s parents will have it easy, thanks to their son’s football excellence in the just-concluded SportPesa Super 8 League.
Zidane Ochieng who looks younger than his 16 years of age caught the attention of many sponsors and talent scouts during the nine months of the tournament.
But the one sponsorship that will make the family happy given that his parents have always told him to balance school and football came last month after SportPesa Chairman Paul Ndung’u offered him a scholarship for all his remaining education years.
“My mother had reservations when I first started playing soccer at a very young age. She was worried that it would overshadow my studies,” said the soft-spoken Ochieng.
The young player who started playing football at the age of five after being inspired by his father – football legend Edward Agwada – was last month crowned most promising player during the SportPesa Super 8 awards that were held in Nairobi.
Presided by Nairobi governor Evans Kidero, the function was teeming with budding talent in football but still the young player stood out prompting even the governor to instantly hand him KSh 20,000 pocket money.
Ochieng who started playing for the children’s team of Jericho All stars now plays for Makadara Junior. He has been at Makadara for six years, the same team which his father – a former player of Reunion FC, Railways and Kenya Pipeline football clubs, coaches.
Agwada his father played for ‘Reli’(Railways) as it was popularly known, when it was still part of Kenya’s top premier league.
With such a background, Ochieng has had immense support in honing his football skills and enjoys nearly the same success as his dad did during his heyday.
The sportPesa Super 8’s most promising player was called to the Under 17 national football team which represented Kenya in the African Cup of Nations Tournament in Yaounde, Cameroon in June and also in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations in Mauritius where Kenya’s under 17 team was invited as a guest team and reached the semis.
The international assignments have been exciting but also challenging for Ochieng, given that he will be joining form four next month.
The talented player is a student of St. Patricks Secondary School in Maringo Estate. He attended primary school at Rabai Road School in Jericho.
“It is very hard for now to juggle school and football. I wanted to finish school and solely focus on football but with this scholarship, I now hope to attend university and study engineering,” Ochieng asserts.
Announcing his scholarship reward to Ochieng, Ndung’u asked the Makadara player to count on him in his education “until you see a sign board that there is no school ahead!”
An elated Ochieng said: “This is a good chance for me and I am happy that my parents’ budget has been cut in terms of my education.”
The budding football player hopes to one day play for Kariobangi Sharks, which has now joined the top tier league, noting that the team has always displayed a good game in terms of teamwork during their matches.
He has watched several Kariobangi Sharks matches at Jericho’s Camp Toyoyo grounds. His favorite SportPesa Premier League team is Tusker though he also confesses some love for Gor.
“I love Gor although I would not want to play for that team because of the pressure from the fans,” adds Ochieng.
His biggest dream though, is to play for an English Premier League team, preferably Arsenal.
With education and great support, Ochieng notes, there is nothing that stops him from making his grand dream a reality.
Sportpesa.com