Angie Wachira Spends her downtime in New York City
TTA Alumnus Angela Wachira is loving life in the USA. After impressing at the academy, Angie was offered the opportunity to go to the USA to join Milligan University on scholarship through our partners Sports Recruiting USA. We caught up with her as she gears for the new season with her new team.
Q. What’s a day in the life of Angie like?
Well, I’ll talk about Thursdays which are the busiest. So, I start my day early at around 4:30 am.
4.30 am – 5.00 am: Wake up and prepare for training
5.00 am – 6.00 am: Gym (Weights and lifts)
6.00 am – 7.30 am: First training session
7.30 am – 8.00 am: Prep for class
8.00 am – 9.20 am: First class of the day
9.30 am – 11.00 am: Free time. I use this time to have breakfast and do some schoolwork.
11.00 am – noon: We have chapel every Tuesday and Thursday at this time
Noon – 12.30 pm: I have Lunch and Prep for my next class
12.40 pm – 2.00 pm: Second class of the day
2.00 pm – 4.00 pm: I use this time to chill. It’s the only time I don’t have any school or football-related activity. Most times I call home and catch up with family and friends. I also use this time to take naps, read books, or watch movies. I’ll try and sneak in a quick meal because training is usually heavy and intense, so I need to fuel up.
4.45 pm – 8.00 pm: I have work-study whereby I work in school and get paid. Usually, I work in the cafeteria, and it’s been quite interesting learning the different types of food that students enjoy here as opposed to Kenya and even making them has been fun. It is usually about three hours but not every day, just Wednesday through Sunday. I also have my dinner at this time.
8.00 pm – 9.00 pm: Work on some schoolwork.
9.00 pm – 10.00 pm: Plan for the next day, journal, and do my devotion.
10.00 pm – Lights out.
Q. What’s been your highlight so far?
Just being here by itself is my biggest highlight. It still feels surreal. Sometimes I have moments where I just want to cry because I think about everything I did for this opportunity and to live it just brings tears. The Campus is just as beautiful as what is shown in the pictures and videos, so experiencing that was a highlight, but if I had to pick one moment, it has to be going to New York. I was in the same city where TV shows like Suits, and Brooklyn 99 were shot. It was crazy. Being in Times Square, the Manhattan Bridge, riding a subway, damn I can’t even explain how all those experiences felt. Just amazing!
Angie at the Manhattan Bridge
Q. Talk us through your debut, the experience?
I have a funny story about that, so I forgot the clock in college games goes backward; 45 to 0 as opposed to what I am used to 0 to 45. I knew we’d probably played about 10 minutes, but the clock read 35 minutes and I was confused. So, I look up again and it reads 30 minutes. It took me a while but then I realized that’s how it goes. Other than that, I loved my debut. The game itself was tough. We played against a team in a higher division, but we were up for the task. The game was also quite physical, and I struggled a bit to keep up with this, but I’ve worked on that ever since. I got to play 60 minutes and the game ended 1-1.
Q. Favorite thing about the USA so far?
The smallest things have been making me happy, like going to Walmart, taking Chick-fil-A for the first time, chipotle, and having full training gear and traveling fit provided by the school, it’s like living the whole pro experience. But nothing tops, playing football in such an amazing environment! The facilities are top-notch, and I have amazing teammates and a world-class coach. Also having late kickoffs and playing under the lights for some reason has made me extremely happy. It’s probably because I’ve only seen this on TV, and we don’t get to experience late-night matches back home.
Q. Have you had any low moments and if so, what has it been?
Yeah definitely. I miss being home and being with my family. I used to convince myself that I wouldn’t feel homesick just because I had been in a boarding school for a long time but from the first day I came here, I missed home. It’s hard having to do everything by yourself and learning the real world on your own in what feels like a different world and sometimes things don’t work out and you just want to be home next to your parents, you know? Even being able to be with your friends and relate with them in different things sometimes gets to me because, as much as you can make friends here, there will be things you guys can probably not relate to. Once in a while, you receive an encouraging message from people at home and they keep you going.
Q. What if any, is the major difference between football and USA?
In the USA, it’s just so competitive and everyone here is good. With everyone trying to make it pro there’s a lot of extra work put in just to improve. The facilities here are also excellent. The coaching is also amazing, and the coach brings out the best in you. The demand for high performance is also really high and since it’s also tied to academics, one has to do well in both to pay in the league.
Q. It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t ask you about the food
Man, I miss chapo ☹️ I’ve been looking for many ways to make a replica of chapati, and the best way I figured was frying some tortilla which resembles a chapati but waah they ended up being so bad. I’ll figure something out soon. The food here is different and even the ones I’m familiar with are prepared differently. At first, I struggled to adapt to the food, and I would refuse to eat or eat what I knew but later on, I started to get used to it.
Q. Biggest adjustment you’ve had to make?
The weather. I came in during winter and it was extremely cold reaching temperatures of around -12 degrees Celsius. In comparison, the lowest temperature I experienced in Kenya was 12 to 13 degrees. I loved the snow though, until I got a bad cold 😂. Then some days it’s sunny but so cold and then you have days when it’s raining but so hot, it’s just really confusing. I have had to adjust to the weather and dress appropriately for the different conditions. I’ve had about 4 colds since arriving here.
Another big adjustment has been living alone and experiencing life on my own; managing finances, and balancing between classes, football, and my personal life. It’s all been hard, but it’s been amazing just learning all these things.
Q. Finally…for now?
I thank God for this amazing opportunity to experience a different life. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it. I also want to thank TTA for supporting me through the journey and allowing me to achieve this.
Also, a small reminder to everyone. Those early mornings that you have to wake up to go for training and late nights doing your personal development football-wise, are worth it, trust me just keep pushing yourself. Thank you.
Watch Angie’s Story of how she got the opportunity to play in the USA above
Former TTA player Sydney Ligunya is loving life in Europe. Sydney got offered the opportunity to join our partner academy FC Malaga City (Spain) after impressing in our Incubator Program. We caught up with him recently and he talked to us about life in Spain; his highlights, struggles, and plenty more.
A picture of Sydney Ligunya at FC Malaga City
Food has a great influence on how we adapt to new environments, so it was only right to start the interview with a question about food. That’s why they pay us the big bucks, for moments like this!
Q1. Favourite Spanish dish?
My favorite Spanish dish would most definitely be the paella.
(Looking at this, we’d see why as well! What an appetizing way to start this interview)
Paella is regarded as Spain’s national dish by many and is certainly the most famous dish.
Keeping in line with the hard-hitting questions, we had one more difficult one.
Q2. Paella or Chapati?
Definitely Chapati (No hesitation whatsoever)
Q3. What’s the best thing about Spain?
The weather here in Spain is for me the best thing and how they embrace their culture.
Q4. Malaga beaches or Kenyan beaches?
I still think Kenyan beaches are the best in the world but Malaga beaches are beautiful.
The beaches might not be the best, but the mountains are surely a sight to behold. We’ll let you be the judge.
Q5. Biggest culture shock?
Food has been my biggest culture shock . (Again, back to where it all started)
Q6. What’s a day for you like?
I wake up at about 6.45 in the morning, say a prayer, then do my general personal hygiene. After that, I have my protein shake – which consists of banana, blueberry, milk, and honey. I then go to the gym to do some cardio work just to start up my day. Training most of the time starts at 9 am so I go train for about 2 hours.
Depending on the day, my program usually ends at 2 pm. I then usually still have futsal with some of my teammates to just improve my technical side of the game because there’s always something to improve. Then I have to prepare myself for Spanish classes which usually happen from 4 pm to 6 pm. I still have university assignments that I have to do so I embark on that right before dinner which is at 8 pm.
Q7. What are matchdays like?
These are the most intense days! Everyone’s locked in and focused. I have a certain routine that I do before my games especially when it comes to food. I have to make myself pancakes which I’ve done for the past 2 years, then I pray and just listen to music. (The highlight was intentional)
Q8. Best moment so far for you in Spain?
My best moment for me was playing in La cartuja stadium in Sevilla which is one of Spain’s national stadiums
Q9. Major differences between football in Spain vs Kenya
Football in Spain is very technical and focuses on short passing, patience, and a very high emphasis on keeping possession while Kenyan football is more direct.
Q10. What surprised you the most about the football in Spain?
The thing that shocked me the most is how the Spanish style of football which is called tiki-taka is being taught to kids as young as 5 years old thus it’s engraved in the from a very young age.
Q11. Do you get homesick? And how do you deal with that?
I get homesick here and there but for me, it’s not difficult with it cause I’m doing what I love and when I’m on that field playing nothing else out there matters to me
Q12. Hardest part about being in Spain?
Communicating with people, in the beginning, was difficult because not so many people were English speakers. I am currently learning Spanish though and getting better at it. It was difficult going around the city at first because of the language barrier but I can move around now.
Q13. Your first experience with Winter and Summer, how was it?
Winter was one of the worst experiences I had. I was sick most of it and at that point, I was ready to go back home but I managed to pull through. In the summer it gets really hot it’s next to impossible to train and do things without water breaks.
Former True Talents of Africa player Kennedy Obanda signed for Northeast Texas College in the USA in September 2022. Obanda got the opportunity through our partners Sports Recruiting USA after impressing at all levels in the academy since joining in 2019.
Obanda has had a decent start to life in Texas football-wise, making a few appearances for the team both as a starter and from the bench. We caught up with our former captain to ask him about life in the USA and how he’s adapting to the new environment.
Kennedy Obanda in action for Northeast Texas Eagles
Q. Just over two months in the USA. What’s been your experience so far?
My experience in the USA so far has been very good. The people here are very friendly and that has made settling here easy for me. I’m loving it here.
Q. What has been the biggest culture shock so far?
The food here definitely is. There are a lot of fast-food joints here and plenty of junk food. I miss home-cooked meals. I’ve tried looking for African restaurants or restaurants that have African food but sadly I haven’t found one.
Q. What’s the weather like in Texas?
It got very hot and humid in the summer, and then changed drastically in the winter. It also rained a lot in the winter. We had a tornado a few weeks back and fortunately everyone was safe.
Q. What was your first training session like?
My first training was intense, the weather made it hard for me to train. I almost fainted. But I was told it’s normal for players to struggle in the first training sessions given the weather.
Q. What would you say is different in the way they play football in the USA compared to Kenya?
There is a more professional outlook to football here in the USA and the intensity is high. The game is mostly possession-based and less physical since most players here are very technically gifted.
Q. What’s a day in the life for you?
A day in the life for me would be:
Wake up: 7.00 am
Freshen up: 7.00 – 7.45 am
Breakfast: 7.45 am
Classes: 8.00 am – each class is 1 hour 30 minutes, and the number classes varies per day
Lunch: 11.00 – 1.00 pm
First training session: 2.30 – 4.30 pm
Dinner: 5.00 – 6.00 pm
Team bonding/study/assignments: 6.00 pm – 8.30 pm – We play board games, video games, ping pong, etc.
Gym session: 8:30 – 10.00 pm
Finish Assignments: 10.00 pm – 12 am
Sleep: 12:30 midnight
Q. What was the feeling like making your debut for your new team?
It was a home game. I still remember it to this day. I was nervous but the fans and my teammates were incredible in the way they supported me. We ended up winning 5-1.
Q. What’s the coach like, is he friendly, or no-nonsense? Or a little bit of both?
Our coach is friendly and at the same time no-nonsense. He is usually mad at us if we don’t play our hearts out or follow his tactics giving 100% in whatever we do. He is a very young coach, and this is his first season which means he is learning as well but he has good principles which are discipline and hard work.
Q. What’s been the most difficult part about moving to the USA?
I miss my family the most, my dad and my sister. Leaving my family behind is one of the hardest choices I’ve made, and I always think of them every day. I don’t let the time difference change anything and try as much to call them daily.
Q. How many nationalities do you have in your team?
We have around 8 different nationalities. Guys from Brazil, France, Mexico, Spain, Belgium, South Africa, Puerto Rico, and England.
Q. Have you found it easy to juggle football and your academics?
Balancing my football and academics has been easy for me. Education is really important, and the school gives you a good amount of time and support for you to excel and get your certificate. If your grades are low, you are not allowed to play so you have to balance both your education and football.
Q. What’s your living arrangement like?
I live within the school in a suite accommodation. There’s four of us and everyone has their own room. We share the two bathrooms among us; two players per bathroom.
Q. What’s your favorite thing about the USA so far?
The people here are very friendly and will help you at any time. Learning about different cultures as well has been very interesting to me especially learning the Mexican culture which is very broad and exciting.
Congratulations are very much in order as Nova Pioneer and TTA graduate from the class of 2021, Peter Kolenyo, this week, committed to join Cardinal Stritch University on a 67% soccer scholarship.
Peter made the decision after receiving offers and interest from various universities including Amherst University, Manor College, Irvine Valley, Whatcom University, Pima College and others.
Cardinal Stritch is one of the most consistent NAIA Men’s soccer programs in the United States, having qualified for the NAIA National Tournament in 4 out of the past 6 years.
Peter is a graduate of the True Talents of Africa Football Academy residential program at Nova Pioneer Boys where he excelled not only on the field but also off the field, scoring high marks in his KCSE Exams in 2021.
We are extremely proud of him and we wish him well in his journey! He is set to travel to the US in August and is currently training with the TTA Football Academy’s Under 21 team.
Peter joins the list of Nova TTA Graduates headed to the US this August on Soccer scholarships which includes Cedric Mucui, Kennedy Obanda and Derrick Onyango.
Congratulations are in order as TTA Striker, Daryl Joseph has officially committed to joining Northern Oklahoma College on a 55% soccer scholarship through TTA’s Special SRUSA program. Daryl made the decision after receiving offers and interest from Fulton Montgomery, Eastern Oklahoma State College, and Phelps School.
Daryl, has been an exemplary performer for True Talents of Africa’s Under 21 team for the past 9 months and was therefore inducted into TTA’s SRUSA Program that offers players soccer scholarship opportunities to study and play in the United States.
He is now set to join one of the top Junior College programs in the US in Northern Oklahoma.
We wish him well in his journey! And we are extremely proud of him! His consistency and commitment have been a testimony to us all!
Daryl, a graduate of Brookhurst International School in Kiserian, is due to travel in August 2022, and he joins a list of 4 other TTA Students making the same trip including, Cedric Mucui, Kennedy Obanda, Peter Kolenyo and Derrick Onyango.
Congratulations are very much in order as Nova Pioneer graduate and TTA Member from the class of 2022, Derrick Onyango, this week, committed to join Cardinal Stritch University on a 69% soccer scholarship through TTA’s Special SRUSA Program.
Derrick made the decision after receiving offers and interest from Hastings University, Milligan University, St. Scholastica, Indiana Wesleyan, University of Rio Grande, etc. with soccer scholarship offers worth over 60,000 US Dollars per year. Cardinal Stritch is one of the most consistent NAIA Men’s soccer programs in the United States, having qualified for the NAIA National Tournament in 4 out of the past 6 years.
Derrick is a 2022 graduate of the True Talents of Africa Football Academy at Nova Pioneer Boys where he excelled not only on the field but also off the field, scoring high marks in his KCSE Exams and was inducted into TTA’s SRUSA program.
We are extremely proud of him and we wish him well in his journey! He is set to travel to the US in August and is currently training with the TTA Football Academy’s Under 21 team.
Derrick joins a list of 3 other Nova TTA Graduates headed to the US this August on Soccer scholarships which includes Cedric Mucui, Kennedy Obanda and Peter Kolenyo.
As a player you can have days where you’re completely unstoppable, and then other days where you can’t even control the ball…
One thing that players often forget is how much of the game is actually “MENTAL”. Of course talent is important and players do need a certain level of ability to play at a high-level. But what happens in places where all the players are talented? When everyone has ability, what makes certain players “special”?
The only real differentiating factor when you play at a high level is your “mind”. How you approach the game, the habits you have on and off the field, your level of self-belief and confidence… all of these things separate the good players from the special ones. But despite this, very few players take the mental part of their game seriously.
Consider this.
The best players are actually not that good… but mentally, they are great. They have the most important attribute of all: Confidence.
The hardest thing to give any player is confidence. Not the false kind of confidence where a player is delusional and tells themselves that they are much better than they are when their performances don’t reflect that.
We’re talking about real confidence. The confidence that not only makes a player believe he’s good enough, but actually makes them “know” that they are.
Different players cultivate and create this confidence in different ways. There are some players that seem to have it abundantly. Players like Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Zlatan Ibrahimović – AC Milan player
But then there’s the rest of us. The players whose confidence comes and goes. For us, we need to build our confidence. And the question is, how do you do that?
Where confidence comes from?
Real confidence can only come from continuous practice. If you’ve passed the ball a thousand times, the 1001th time you pass it, you won’t doubt yourself as much as you did the first time. That is confidence, and the more you practice the more confident you get.
But aside from practice, players can also train their mind. Visualization, saying affirmations, having a pre-match routine… these are only a few examples of techniques you can use. Every player is different, but if you’re a player who’s struggling with consistency and confidence, the solution isn’t always that you need to train more, it could be that you just need to train smarter and cultivate your mind.
This blog is written and created by True Talents of Africa. The TTA Football Academy program is a specialized highly intensive football program designed to turn students from ‘students’, to ‘student-athletes’. The program enables talented football players to pursue football at an elite level without subtracting from their education whilst granting them greater opportunities to play internationally.
If you would like more info on playing opportunities for yourself or your son, you can join our next masterclass.
The True Talents of Africa Football Academy @Dawamu School is Kenya’s first fully residential international football academy based in Kiserian, Nairobi.
The program is designed to develop young ‘student-athletes’ from the ages of 13 – 19 in a professional football academy environment whilst schooling at Dawamu Boy’s Secondary school. Essentially students will live and train on one campus with the goal of pursuing a career in football.
Since 2018, TTA’s partners have sent over 7 students on soccer scholarships to places around the world. These are the opportunities that the TTA Academy prepares its students for.
“This is a big opportunity for aspiring footballers, not just in East Africa, but all over the continent. In my career, football opened doors for me that academics could not. We are simply giving the same opportunity to the students of today. At Dawamu we have created the right environment to develop and mentor our student-athletes as they pursue football at the highest level.”
Kimathi Kaumbutho, TTA Director and former player and USA NAIA National Champion.
The intensive format of the program will see students train 3 times per week on campus in tandem with their studies. The program also includes ‘Mental Conditioning’, character-building sessions.
“Mental conditioning is where we mentor our student-athletes off the pitch in a classroom setting. We discuss matters regarding their mental health and character. It’s important to realize that football is simply a tool we use to educate the students and equip them to succeed in life—that’s the real goal of the academy.”
The True Talents of Africa Football program continues this coming July Term @Dawamu School and is currently accepting applications through the link below.
The True Talents of Africa Football Academy is set to launch Kenya’s first fully residential International football academy in partnership with Nova Pioneer Boys Secondary School based in Tatu City, Nairobi.
The program is designed to develop young ‘student-athletes’ from all over the continent from the ages of 13 – 19 in a professional football academy environment whilst schooling at Nova Pioneer Secondary school. Essentially students will live and train on one campus with the goal of pursuing a career in football.
Since 2018, TTA’s partners have sent over 7 students on soccer scholarships to places around the world and these are the opportunities that the TTA Academy prepares Nova Students for.
“Having played professional football myself, I would say this is an opportunity which I would have loved to have growing up…”
Kevin Karuga, Nova Head Coach
“This is a big opportunity for aspiring footballers, not just in East Africa, but all over the continent. In my career, football opened doors for me that academics could not. We are simply giving the same opportunity to the students of today. At Nova, we have created the right environment to develop and mentor our student-athletes as they pursue football at the highest level.”
Kimathi Kaumbutho, TTA Director and former player and USA NAIA National Champion.
The intensive format of the program will see students train 4 times per week on campus in tandem with their studies. The program also includes weights and resistance training and ‘Mental Conditioning’, character-building sessions.
“Mental conditioning is where we mentor our student-athletes off the pitch in a classroom setting. We discuss matters regarding their mental health and character. It’s important to realize that football is simply a tool we use to educate the students and equip them to succeed in life—that’s the real goal of the academy.”
The True Talents of Africa Football program starts this coming July Term 2021 @Nova Pioneer.
Hands down, FOOTBALL is Africa’s most popular sport.
There is no day that goes by without us talking about Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and all the big clubs we love to watch. But this passion, this deep and relentless passion for football, is mostly carried by our youth.
Young boys (and girls) all over Africa strive to be professional footballers. It’s no surprise then that in pursuit of this dream, many of them join football academies to develop and grow their talent to reach the highest level.
In layman terms, a football academy is a ‘Football School’.
A talent development centre which focuses on football and its goal is to train and teach young players to maximize their talent and one day make it as professional players.
Most football academies tend to promise the same thing;
“Train with us and you could play professionally abroad for your favorite club.”
However, in saying this, when you look at the number of African players who make it at the highest level, why are they so few?
How many academies actually address why?
What are they not telling us, as players and parents, about the real world of professional football?
Here are 3 things your academy has probably never told you that you must know as a player or parent in your pursuit of football as a career:
Banned International transfer of youth players
Did you know that since 2009, FIFA Prohibits the transfer of players under the age of 18 internationally?
Despite this, hundreds of academies in Africa send students to international tournaments every year. It’s not that playing in these tournaments is wrong or bad, it’s that academies don’t tell their students and their families that your son/daughter is not likely to be signed. And when the player comes back wondering why they were not picked up by a club, nobody has answers. The truth is that clubs cannot sign underage international players. So go on trips and play in tournaments, that’s all fine… but find another route if you want to play abroad under the age of 18.
Limits on International Players
Another thing, players often don’t know is that every league has limits on foreign players. They do this to protect their home-grown talent. In Spain for example, each team is only allowed 3 Non-European Union players on match day. In France, that number is 5.
Even in Kenya, each club is only allowed 5 foreign players.
This means that the competition for those spots is very high. To play abroad as a foreign player, you would have to be world-class.
How hard it is at the professional level
Most players will not go from Nairobi, or Kampala, or Accra directly to playing for Arsenal. Football and even life doesn’t work like that. You don’t land your dream job after you finish high-school. Football is a ladder. And many families simply lack the patience to support their son/daughter through that ladder.
We have this conception that if you take your son/daughter to London, they will immediately be signed. But that’s impossible.
What’s more likely is that your son or daughter will play in different countries as they climb the ladder of international football. They may not even get a professional contract on their first trial, or even their second or third one. But the same applies to any highly competitive job. You might work different jobs and go to many different interviews before you get what you really want. And that’s okay. Expect football to be the same way.
. . . . .
This blog is written and created by True Talents of Africa. The TTA Football Academy program is a specialized highly intensive football program designed to turn students from ‘students’, to ‘student-athletes’. The program enables talented football players to pursue football at an elite level without subtracting from their education whilst granting them greater opportunities to play internationally.
Sports Recruiting USA
FC Malaga City (Spain)
Brooke House College (UK)
Soccer Viza (Costa Rica)
FA Euro (USA)
Our Academy Partners
If you would like more info on playing opportunities for yourself or your son, you can join our next Masterclass.
