“Personally, I never thought I would quit football at this age because I fought everyone, including my parents, who told me to think about anything else apart from the game.
But I think the time is now. If I cannot even sustain myself, what is the point of continuing anyway?”
Former AFC Leopards Youth defender Brian Soita regales to SportPesa Blog regarding his less conventional decision to quit football at only 21 years.
“I need something that can take care of my needs. I am the first born in my family but I keep going back for help from my parents. It is the right time to end this suffering and focus on doing something else,” the central defender adds as he opens up for the first time following his abrupt decision.
Despite Kenyan football facing a myriad of challenges from sponsorship troubles, unpaid salaries, out-of-touch facilities to fourth or fifth-grade apparel, stories that fans of the game have been accustomed to include tales of resilience, hunger for more and endurance.
Plots where everything is set up against them but they ultimately come through to emerge as the determined heroes in the end. Grass to grace storylines.
Take the case of Victor Wanyama perhaps, who started out in the dusty paths of Muthurwa slums before climbing all the way up into one of the finest exports the country has ever seen after becoming the only Kenyan who has so far played in the globally acclaimed English Premier League.
Or maybe Dennis Oliech, who is regarded as striking royalty when it comes to the Kenyan scene.
Take even Michael Olunga, currently the country’s glittering forward who has gone on to achieve incredible milestones and set his life apart following humble beginnings at the now-defunct Thika United.
Or the little-known former Posta Rangers defender Otieno Pala who punched over and above his weight in forging through the footballing echelons from the lowest leagues locally all the way to playing in England and the South Asian nation of Nepal.
But at only 21 years of age, Soita, commonly referred to as Mayuro, turned the manuscript on its head and took the road that is largely unheard of when he decided to hang his boots after endless payment frustrations within the sporting scene in the country.
It is a decision that certainly caused ripples in the sporting sector considering that 21 is considered, the world over, to be the ideal age for a footballer to get into the rhythm of his career.
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By that age, Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold had already been shortlisted for the 2019 Ballon d’Or, named in the Professional Footballers Association Team of the Year and had won not only the Premier League but also the holy grail of European club football – the 2018/19 Champions League.
His England compatriot Jude Bellingham cost $112 million (approximately Ksh 14,453,600,000) following his move to Spanish giants Real Madrid at 20 and French prodigy Kylian Mbappe had won the coveted World Cup trophy by 21.
But for Soita, having lunged into the beautiful game fully at 17, it only took four years to say enough is enough as he called it quits.
“I started playing competitive football at 17 through my own forceful will because my parents were against it. But my journey has not been easy. It has been very hard to the point where I decided to call time on my career,” the St. Charles Lwanga alumni discloses.
How did Brian Soita get into football?
His journey began while still in secondary school where he would play for then-Division 2 side Maturu Taifa Stars.
There, his football appetite got whetted and by the time he finished high school in 2019, all he wanted to do was to pursue the football dream.
Although the deadly COVID-19 pandemic almost affected his plans, Soita made his way to Nairobi and got registered with Cheza Sports Academy where he would stay for six months while playing in the Football Kenya Federation Regional league.
It is from there that he linked up with an opportunity at AFC Leopards Youth for the 21/22 season, hoping to break into one of the most famed clubs in the country with 12 Kenya Premier League titles to its name and home to some of the country’s sporting legends such as Joe Kadenge and Titus Mulama among others.
For three months, Soita almost got a chance to endear himself to the Ingwe faithful, to the tunes of isukuti while seeing himself dressed in the conspicuous blue and white and celebrating together with them after heading in a last-minute goal against sworn rivals Gor Mahia. But it never came.
He trained with the senior team for three months that season but that was just about it.
His stint at Ingwe would last only one campaign as he moved to Mwatate United for the 22/23 season in the National Super League – the second tier of Kenyan football.
Another full year of playing without any injury would follow before his eventual move to Silibwet after Mwatate sold their slot in the Super League.
Initially, joining Silbwet for the 23/24 campaign seemed like a good move but it turned out to be all sizzle and no steak.
Having joined in September 2023, the player never received anything as payment with the club owners struggling to cater for the team.
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With no signing fees and no salary, one frustration led to another and Soita regales the very moment the straw broke the camel’s back.
“We had a game against Nairobi United and I played the full 90 minutes. In the next game against Dimba Patriots, I started on the bench since I had a knock on my knee, and being on the bench came at a good time.
But a teammate got injured and I had to come on. However, after six minutes I asked to be subbed off because I was uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the coach had used all the subs and the team had to play with ten men.
The fans wanted to storm the ground to beat me because they did not understand and it was that day I decided to call it quits with all the frustrations I was already going through,” he reveals.
In his mind, he did not need any of the other football drama like being beaten by fans having already lost contact with his siblings due to his financial struggles and burdening his parents to send him money – the very ones who looked up to him to support the family as the firstborn. Enough was enough.
“I have not gotten anything at Silibwet during the time I have been here to be honest. Not even a shilling.
Ni mpira tu ya asante (loosely translated to work without pay) but the frustration is too much. It has been a lot to deal with.
Aside from that, my parents are still looking to me for support at the end of the month. But every day I am the one who keeps asking for money from them instead of supporting them,” a frustrated Soita narrates.
“My situation makes it even tricky to talk to my siblings because of my status. You cannot even help out in doing something because they have a job and you have nothing,” he added.
“My parents never wanted me to play football. While in Mwatate in 2022, my father was pleading with me to go back to school for my post-high school education but I could not see myself studying for four years while still depending on him.
At Mwatate, we used to be paid so I used to send him money which cools down. But now it has been difficult since there is nothing I am getting. With the economy right now, it becomes hard because everything is going up yet I am getting nothing,” Soita explained.
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With bills bringing, pressure and expectations all fighting to bring him down, Soita did what he never thought was once possible from him.
“No one could tell me anything about football but I have decided just to leave the game and look for a job that can even give me even 200 shillings on a day. It is better than playing yet you are not receiving anything. The football industry is so hard that it has gotten to a point where I have to let go myself.
In football, as much as you are playing because you are talented, there is also life after the sport. In Kenya, that is what we tend to forget because there is no appreciation for the player, and the frustrations are too much.
I am quitting but I pray one day I will get to have my own team. I have always dreamt of playing football, getting paid, and then transitioning to owning one after I finish. Right now, I am quitting due to payment issues but one day I will fulfill my dream,” he expressed.
While the biggest takeout message from his ordeal is for Kenyan players to be appreciated more to help them thrive off the field, Soita called on upcoming players not to give up on the dream. To keep pushing despite the challenges.
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“Kenyan football needs to learn how to appreciate players by paying them. It might be small but it goes a long way. FKF also needs to help teams because we know there are no sponsors. If it continues like this, a lot of people will keep on quitting.
But I would encourage the upcoming players to never give up. Probably my luck was not in football but let them play. I am quitting but it has given me a lot of exposure. I know a lot of people and without football, even this interview would not have been possible.
Maybe things will get better in the future so let them just keep playing,” he concluded.
Since calling time on his career in October 2023, Soita stepped away from the game to look for employment elsewhere.
He did, finding a job at Taita Estate in Taita Taveta in January 2024. Interestingly, the company has a football club that plays in the FKF Division 2 league which he joined immediately.
He finishes his work and at 5 pm he is in the training fields getting to his first love.
You can’t fight fate sometimes.