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The Mombasa-born player has revealed how he struggled to survive after dropping out school before football came to his rescue
Bandari midfielder Dennis Magige has revealed the struggles he faced before eventually making it into football.
The Mombasa-born star only had football to hang onto after dropping out of school due to lack of fees, having been forced to do menial jobs to survive and assist his struggling parents.
Magige remembers how he shown at various school tournaments while at Maji Safi in Likoni, catching the eye of a coach who gave him an opportunity at an estate team called Koshen Stars which had been started by elders in the area before it later collapsed.
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“In 2010, some elders formed a Wazee team in the estate because we did not have any in the area then. One coach then said we have youngsters here who can play and that is when we started a team called Shell Beach,” remembers Magige.
“The coach put us together and we started playing. We would be given Ksh100 after a game which was good money then and he got the team in the county league.
“My parents pushed me and encouraged me a lot because I had left school and it was like my only hope. I could play and the little I got I bought something and took home.”
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Magige’s hope were, however, short-lived as the team broke due to financial challenges, forcing him out of football again until the man who had initially spotted him offered him a second chance.
“We went up to the provincial league but it was only one person sponsoring the team and things became tough so the team broke,” added Magige.
“Many boys stopped playing and got into other things. Others became beach boys, some got into crime and drugs. However, the very coach who had spotted me playing in school started looking for me. He went home, talked to my parents and got me to play for Bandari Youth.
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“After a short stint I left to join Ulinzi Warriors and played for two years. We became champions in the U20. Things got tough and I left again and went back home.
“I went into fishing and picking shells but the same coach started looking for me again. He said: ‘I have been looking for you, Bandari Youth is back and I want you in’. So, I decided to join and became captain that season in the county league which we won.”
At Bandari Youth, Bandari FC coaches would come to watch the youngsters and that is how then coach Ken Odhiambo promoted Magige, Swaleh Chacha, Abdalah Hassan and Keegan Ndemi to the senior team.
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“I was inspired by players in the senior team such as Felly Mulumba and David Naftali who kept encouraging us and eventually we started playing with them. It was hard adapting to the intensity but the morale of the senior players kept us going,” said Magige.
“I signed for Bandari senior in 2017 and stayed there for five years then moved on loan to Western Stima. After one season we went back to Bandari. When offers came for another loan, I chose Ulinzi because I had previously played for Warriors.”
It is a journey that Magige feels was worth the struggle since football has not only transformed his and his family’s lives but also acted as a source of inspiration to the youth in Likoni.
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“At Ulinzi, I found some of the players we were with at Warriors in the senior team and linked up. I have inspired so many youths in Likoni to play football and I want to tell them that football pays and it has changed my life. They should not give up, all they need is discipline and hard work.”
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