Once a very tiny boy who was denied an opportunity to play football because of his seemingly weak frame, Samuel Olwande has grown to become one of the most sought after defenders.
His teachers in primary school shoved him aside and quashed his quest and zest to play for the school team because to them, he was too tiny and weak to contain opposition. However, Olwande fought on to become a lanky defender who now towers 80 percent of the Kenyan Premier League players he comes up against in matches.
Samuel Olwande was born on April 12, 1989 and he is the fifth child in a family of eight children (6 boys and 2 girls). He attended Martin Luther Primary School in Eastlands, Nairobi where he was actively involved in football. Olwande says by the age of six, he was already showing a lot of potential in football.
“I started out as a budding footballer at a development side called Agentoz which has its roots in Makadara, Nairobi. There, I featured for both the U-12 and U-16 sides.”
He, however, says that his tiny body frame proved to be a stumbling block as his teachers denied him a chance to play for the school team, instead preferring to field the lanky and stocky body type. “I played football in primary, but my teachers considered me too tiny for the school team. They preferred the tall and stocky boys.”
He ultimately sat for his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2003 and secured a chance to join Ofafa Jericho High School for his secondary education.
While there, he didn’t get an opportunity to feature for the school team until in 2007 when he was in Form Three. His debut appearance for the school team went with a bang. They pipped Jamhuri High School by a solitary goal in a repeat final match at Lenana to clinch the county title. They were playing the match for the second day running after it had been cancelled the previous day owing to darkness which had crept into the venue before the final whistle.
“I remember we faced off with Jamhuri at Lang’ata and played out to a barren draw. We couldn’t proceed to a shootout because it was already too dark to see anything on the pitch. We met the following day in a repeat match at Lenana where we edged them 1-0 to lift the title.”
They booked a slot as Nairobi’s representatives in the national edition of the competition, where they were eliminated in the semis and ended up in fourth position after falling to Kakamega High in the third place play-offs.
In 2008, they once again made a good impression of themselves by progressing through to the finals, but this time, they were bundled out by Kamukunji on post-match penalties to settle for runner-up position.
Olwande says that he played as a right-back in 2007 and then switched to the central defence during the 2008 games.
He got a lot of inspiration from his high school games teacher and coach, Mr. Makumi, who also doubled up as his Kiswahili teacher and the school’s guidance and counseling master.
“Makumi was our coach. He mentored us a lot. He would tell us a lot more about all the local players he had nurtured including the likes of former harambee Stars’ captain Musa Otieno who played for Tusker and AFC Leopards before moving to the South African PL and George Waweru, who also featured for the national team besides turning out in the local league for Tusker.”
The success stories motivated Makumi’s proteges as they too aspired to scale the great heights their role models had attained, or better still emulate them. “Their stories inspired us because they were established players and we wished to be like them.”
In 2003, he joined Hakati FC whom he found featuring in the FKF Super 2 League. He was with the side until 2009 when he moved to a County League outfit, Makadara Youth FC. He helped steer Makadara to the Regional League in 2012.
His journey in top flight football began in June 2012 with a trip to Naivasha, where he went to try out with Oserian FC, and eventually got signed. The late coach Sammy Otinga immediately offered him a deal after being impressed with his exploits on the pitch.
“During my brief stint at Oserian, I went through the hands of three coaches. Otinga resigned and was replaced on an interim basis by the late Peter Ogutu with Gilbert Selebwa as the technical director. Later as the league went on, the current Posta Rangers tactician Sammy ‘Pamzo’ Omollo joined us as head coach.”
He was with the flower growers for six months, within which time they were relegated to the second tier, forcing the management to terminate their contracts as the team restructured for a new life in the lower division. In 2013, Olwande was approached by Chemelil after an initial deal between him and Sher Karuturi fell through.
“Chemelil had approached me before the end of the season while I was still turning out for Oserian. I had joined Sher Karuturi in January and even began training with them for a few weeks but we failed to agree on a few things. That’s when Chemelil came calling, a few days to the closure of the window.”
He featured as left back for the Millers for four good seasons from 2013 to 2016, without winning a single silverware.
In 2017, Olwande joined Tusker FC. “The Brewers asked for my signature at the end of the season, that was in December. My contract with Chemelil had already run out and I was a free agent. Coach George Nsimbe and his assistant Francis Baraza offered me a deal and I grabbed it.”
He, however, made a quick decision to leave the Ruaraka-based side after only six months because he never got to play at all.
“They did not field me, so in June I decided to look for an opportunity to play football elsewhere. That’s when we met held talks with Mathare United coach Francis Kimanzi and I decided to terminate my contract with Tusker.”
After two seasons with Bob Munro’s charges he hopped out and joined fellow slum boys Kariobangi Sharks, where he plies his trade up-to now.
He earned his first call-up to the national team in 2019, playing his first match in a friendly international against neighbours Uganda. The teams played out to a one all draw after Kenneth Muguna’s effort cancelled out Emmanuel Okwi’s opener for the visitors at Kasarani.
Olwande says that his best league match ever was when they came up against Kisumu All Stars and thrashed them 8-1. “It’s rare in one’s football career to play in a game which registers such high scores.”
Olwande netted the fifth goal from a spot kick. He has had his low moments in football as well. “My worst moment was during our last game of the season in 2018 while I was featuring for Mathare United against Ulinzi at Kasarani. I picked up a knee injury only a few minutes to the final whistle. I ended up going for surgery in December of 2018. ronically, I had played all the 34 matches, only to get injured in our last game of the season.”
Olwande says that his best international assignment was against Egypt, noting that he pulled out a brilliant individual performance apart from the fact that the whole team performed equally well, forcing a draw from the more experienced Pharaohs. “I think we had a good game as a team and also individually. Getting a draw from such an experienced team was a big achievement.”
He readily accepts that he suffered from a major stage fright in his first international assignment against Uganda, adding that he and his teammates found it a challenge to blend easily during the match because they were from different clubs and had only been given a few days to train together.
“It was the first time I was wearing the national team colours, and I was under immense pressure to sync well enough with players from different clubs yet we never got a chance to be together long enough to blend well before the match. It was also my first time on such a big stage.”
Is there a particular club or player causing him sleepless nights? Olwande doesn’t think so.
“I can’t really say there is a team or player that has so far proved to be much of a challenge to me. Every game comes with its own challenges. If you don’t do your homework well, you’ll always find matches and players difficult to handle.”
Among his five brothers, only 19-year-old Ronald Odhiambo Olwande, who currently features for Makadara Youth as goalkeeper, has shown signs of playing in the top flight in future.
How does he spend his free time?
“If I’m not with family, I’m with friends. I also train with Makadara Youth FC.”
He has two children Deshaun Jelani Ouma (7) and O’Neill Mich Ouma (5). He says his wife, Dorothy, has been really supportive throughout his career. “She has been very supportive throughout my career. I remember very well that she was the one who encouraged me to go for trials at Oserian.”
It took some time for his mother Caroline and father Nelson Mjuka to warm up to his dreams of becoming a footballer. “At first, they didn’t welcome the idea. That is when I was still young, but immediately they heard that I had gone for the U-12 trials for an opportunity to travel to Norway, they were very happy and since then, they have been very supportive.”
He never made it to Norway with the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) U-12 side though. He has a word of advice for budding footballers: “ I wish to tell them that football is a profession just like any other. They should therefore work hard and show some commitment if they expect to succeed. They should always have discipline because you can be a great player but without discipline you’ll never go far.”
Olwande, however, stresses the need to work hard in academics as well. “Another thing is they should not only concentrate on football alone but also concentrate on books because if they’re good in both, then it will be an added advantage.”
Samuel Olwande BIOGRAPHY
Age: 31
Place of Birth: Nairobi, Kenya
Nationality: Kenya
Position: Defender
1996-2003: Martin Luther Primary School
2004-2008: Ofafa Jericho High School
2003-2009: Hakati FC
2009-2012: Makadara Youth FC
2012-2013: Oserian Fastac (KPL)
2013-2016: Chemelil
2017 (6 months): Tusker FC
2017-2019: Mathare United
2019: Kariobangi Sharks
2019: national team call-up
KPL appearances: 152
Total minutes played: 13,190
Afcon qualification appearances: 2
Total minutes: 180
Fifa Friendlies
Appearances: 2
Total minutes: 159