•Ocholla boasts a chequered career, which began at the tender age of 7 in his Makongeni neighbourhood in Nairobi
•Now a coach at Makongeni-based Masa Academy, Ocholla's ultimate dream is to coach 19-time Kenyan champions Gor Mahia
•His last assignment as coach was an assistant at the defunct Chemelil FC
Francis Ocholla might not ring a bell in the memory of most football fans but the former forward is a quintessential Kenyan Premier League legend.
For nearly two decades, the Makongeni-born footballer was a fixture in Kenya's topflight league, a feat — I dare say — none of the current crop of footballers will come close to achieving.
Ocholla boasts a chequered career, which began at the tender age of seven in his Makongeni neighbourhood in Nairobi and culminated in a KPL Top Eight trophy with Muhoroni Youth in 2016.
After retirement, Ocholla ventured into coaching where his last assignment was an assistant coach role at the defunct Chemelil FC.
Despite this setback, the 35-year old is dreaming an even better stint on the touchline.
Nothing would complete his joy than to tutor 19-time Kenyan champions Gor Mahia, his boyhood club for which he turned out in 2003.
"I started supporting Gor Mahia when I was still a young boy and later played for them. In future, maybe, I might coach them," Ocholla says.
He has fond memories of his playing days at K'Ogalo where he says his football transcended to the next level.
It was while there that he met his childhood idol and Majengo-born midfielder Dan Ogada.
"When I joined Gor in 2003, I found him there before he left for Mombasa. He was a super talent and I wanted to play just like him," Ocholla recalls.
In pursuit of his dream job, Ocholla is busy garnering experience at Makongeni-based Masa Academy where he is passing on his vast playing and coaching experience to upcoming footballers.
"Football is my life. I am still at it, as a coach. I am working with the youths in Nairobi and upcountry as I wait for a coaching opportunity. I will continue volunteering my services at Masa academy," he says.
In his heydays
Ocho — as he is popularly known — started playing football seriously in 1994 when he joined Postarica FC aged 12.
The club was then coached by current Technical University of Kenya coach and former Harambee Stars fullback Francis 'Killa' Oduor and Willis Obiero.
Five years later, he was off to Makongeni Youth FC in the Super II League where he lasted only a year before he joined Wigu FC.
"Due to limited playing time, Obiero formed Wigu FC and registered it to play at the lower league in 2000. I joined Wigu that year until 2002 when I joined Nation /Taifa Football club. There, we did wonders together with John Keo, Mulinge Ndeto, Fredrick Onyango (Uche) among others," Ocholla recounts.
His achievements at Nation/Taifa include a Moi Golden Cup quarterfinal appearance after eliminating KPL bigwigs Coast Stars.
They, unfortunately, came unstuck against Ulinzi Stars in extra time after a 2-2 draw in normal time.
Nation/Taifa was disbanded and in 2003 and Ocholla joined Gor Mahia, while still a student at Kamukunji High School.
At Kamukunji, he was in the company of Kenyan football legends McDonald Mariga and Dennis Oliech.
"We won many tournaments together most memorably the national championship in the secondary school ball games in 2002," Ocholla says.
Ironically, despite playing for his boyhood club, the forward's most savoured memory is the Top Eight final in which he skippered Muhoroni Youth past K'Ogalo.
"My most memorable moment was when I captained little-known Muhoroni Youth to win the KPL Top 8 trophy in 2016, beating Gor Mahia in the final. It is an achievement that stands out among all the honours I got during my time on the field," he says.
In his 18 years playing among many talented midfielders, Ocholla pinpoints former internationals Titus Mulama, Austin Makacha, Humphrey Mieno, Osborne Monday, Antony 'Gullit' Khadudu and surprisingly, Western Stima veteran Fred Shimonyo as those who gave him hard time.
"These were great midfield players who had deep insight of the game.They often gave me a tough time and I learnt a lot from them," he says.
Favourite tutors
Ocholla has a long list of tacticians who have left a huge impression on him and positively influenced his playing — and possibly — coaching career.
The forward pays tribute to coach Alfred Kiragu, who was in charge during his days at Nation FC.
He credits Kiragu for unlocking his skills as a midfielder and pays homage to coach Elly Adero, who introduced him to Premier League football and was a father figure.
The late Henry Omino is also named as among the top influencers in his career.
Perspective on football
Despite the steps taken in the development of Kenyan football, Ocholla reckons the country is still not yet where they are supposed to be.
"When I was growing up, teams like Gor Mahia and Tusker were doing well in the continental competitions but that changed because there were no structures in place for continuity," he says.
He cites poor grassroot development, favouritism in national team selection and rushed development of young players as issues dragging football.
"Since then, a lot of things have changed — from a biased selection of players to the culture of rushing young players to top leagues when they aren't yet mature enough and praising them too much has impacted negatively on our game," he says.
The veteran advises that Kenya needs to re-evaluate and start from scratch in addition to avoiding persistent wrangles, which have derailed football growth.
He credits his longevity in the game to all-round discipline and hard work in training.
"First of all, I want to thank God for the talent. Because of it, I met so many people and made a lot of friends. As they say, make hay while the sun is shining. I took advantage of my young age to work extra hard. At times we would wake up at 4 am, go for two-hour road work. This paid off because each season I was always at my peak," Ocholla says.
He advises the current generation to live a simple life and resist the temptation of partying, which he says has destroyed the future of many players.
Amongst the current generation, Ocholla points out Gor Mahia skipper Kenneth Muguna and Austin Odhiambo of archrivals AFC Leopards as among players who have a bright future because of their intelligence and knowledge of the game.
Ocholla Best IX: Goalkeeper; Boniface Oluoch, Defenders; David Owino, Shafik Batambuze, Kevin Oluoch, Musa Mohamed, Midfielders; Fred Shimonyo, George Mandela, Peter Opiyo, Forwards; Wycliffe Ochomo, George Odhiambo (BlackBerry), Moses Mudavadi
BIOGRAPHY
Name: Francis Ocholla
D0B: 1985
Education: Joseph Apudo Primary School, Kamukunji High School
CLUBS
2002: Nation/Taifa (Quarter-finalist Moi Golden Cup, Super II League champions)
2003-2006: Gor Mahia (Runner up Transparency Cup)
2007: Chemelil Sugar
2008: Agro-Chemical FC (KPL Second runners up)
2009-2011: Gor Mahia (2010 KPL runner up, Champions Presidents Cup)
2012-2013: Sony Sugar
2014-2015: Western Stima
2016: Muhoroni Youth (Champions KPL Top 8)
2017: Kakamega Homeboyz
2018-2019: Chemelil Sugar