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Baron Ochieng has explained why Kenya must embrace professional football structures following his eye-opening U20 AFCON experience, and based off what he learnt from the likes of Michael Olunga during his Harambee Stars call up in June 2024.
Rising Stars vice-captain Baron Ochieng' has urged football administrators in Kenya to raise the bar on professionalism after witnessing firsthand the gulf in standards during the 2025 U20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Ochieng started the opening two group C clashes against Morocco and Tunisia, but was benched for their final game against Nigeria.
Stars lost 3-2 to Morocco and 3-1 to Tunisia, games in which Ochieng made some high profile mistakes that eventually counted against the side, before drawing 2-2 against Nigeria in their last game.
Regardless, it was a big learning experience for the Dagoretti High School alumnus, who made the jump to the senior national team, Harambee Stars, for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June 2024 against Burundi and Ivory Coast.
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Baron Ochieng: Michael Olunga Made Me Understand What Professionalism is
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The Sofapaka defender says his experience with top professionals like Michael Olunga has reshaped his understanding of what it truly takes to compete at the highest level.
“When you compare the U20 environment and the Harambee Stars one, it is two totally different kettle of fish altogether,” he said during an interview with NTV.
He singled out captain Michael Olunga as a prime example of what elite preparation and discipline look like.
“I learnt a lot from Michael Olunga, for example, and understood why he is a high-pedigree striker and why these professional footballers co-ordinate. When you see people like him conducting themselves, you observe just how ready he is to compete out there,” he explained.
Baron Ochieng: AFCON U20 a Different Ball Game
But it wasn't just Olunga who made an impression—the sheer professionalism of Kenya’s AFCON U20 opponents like Tunisia, Morocco and Nigeria left Ochieng’ in awe.
“When I went for the doping test, they asked what I had been using as supplements, and I said point blank ‘just water’.
“But our Tunisian counterparts had taken in so many supplements. The Tunisian guy was hench like a big house!” he recalled.
Ochieng believes Kenyan football needs to catch up with the rest of the continent in terms of development structures, especially for young players.
“Players like Michael Olunga and Timothy Ouma have been privileged enough to go through similar conditions because of the professional setups when they launched their careers abroad,” he noted.
“For most of us, we are young, we are not exposed to academy setups, and we only rely on high school games to give us a platform.”
He concluded with a rallying call to the country’s football leadership:
“I think it is high time we came up with structures that allowed us to experience similar conditions. Professional setups.”
Ochieng’s words echo the growing sentiment among Kenya’s emerging talents who, despite their promise, are still forced to swim upstream in pursuit of elite-level football.
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