He plays checkers on his way to any match, a game of all equals, no man above the other. It relaxes the Kakamega Homeboyz number 10 so he says. Keeps his mind away from the game, and when the time comes for him to lead out his teammates onto the field, he morphs into the leader that he is. He is Moses Mudavadi, perhaps the only one-club man still left standing in the Kenyan top flight. And after 9 years at Homeboyz, could have landed his first ever Premier League title.‘’It should have been this year,’’ he says. ‘’We’ve come close twice but this year’s should have been it.’’He refers to the season 2019/20, one cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic as Homeboyz gave a spirited chase after eventual champions Gor Mahia. This year though, was the one. For a long time the Kakamega based club led at the top by double digits. Many a fan knew it was done and dusted, and many wanted it that way. A fresh breath of air they said. Then came those four consecutive draws that Mudavadi wishes he could forget.‘’It didn’t look like anyone could catch up to us. We went into every single game intending win and the pressure mounted. We had accustomed our fans to wins every week and they wanted more. The draws costed us,’’ he recalls bitterly.He might be the last of kind to don the green and yellow jerseys. One by one the older long-serving folk are calling it a day. Allan Wanga retired in a fit, goalkeeper David Juma had indicated that this would be his last season. Other seasoned names as Ahmed Ali Bhai, Ben Mutonyi and Benjamin Oketch are in the twilight of their careers.The younger ones, as his roommate Collins Odhiambo – stay hopeful, but not after a proper hiding in checkers from the captain. He invites Collins for a quick game and is 3-0 up after ten minutes, to which he suggests that they now play for something, say money. Collins retreats after another three games with his pockets a little lighter.Now I ask Mudavadi the dreaded question.Does he regret not crossing over to Gor Mahia when the former champions were at their very peak? Twice he admits they reached out, and twice the deals fell through. On one such occasion, he had actually travelled to the capital to complete paperwork.From child labour to football stardom – This is Moses Mudavadi’s story‘’Everything was ready, and I had made a leap of faith to seek greener pastures. Everybody does that sometimes, you get out of your comfort zone and attempt to rise,’’ he reflects, ‘’Things were a little tight here at Homeboyz at the time so I was recalled before I completed the deal. I do not regret the decision, Homeboyz has literally raised me.’’Coming out of school in 2012, Mudavadi was roped in on the last day of trials by the club that had just earned its maiden promotion into the Kenyan top flight. He would appear in the top flight, young and hopeful, in Homeboyz’s most disastrous performance to date.‘’It doesn’t look like it’s far off in the past when my high school coach advised me to head out and try with Homeboyz. We did one week, seasoned players had come to try too. I was lucky to get in on the last day,’’ he recounts penning his contract under current Team Manager Boniface Imbenzi.So now begins the journey now nearing a solid decade, the first year, his worst.‘’We started that season well, with a 3-1 win over Karuturi I think. And from there, lost week in week out. It was like losing had become part of our DNA. By mid-season, all confidence was gone. It was too late to survive and down we went into the second tier. Players ditched the team and just a handful young ones stayed,’’ narrates the captain.Of course it wasn’t going to be easy down in the second tier but he does remember that he had stayed and fought when things were tough. He would stay there two years before sailing the ship back to the top flight at the end of the 2015 campaign. A near undefeated season at home only marred by a 1-0 loss to Zoo.The return season was a good run, and apart from finishing 8th, he particularly recalls playing against later teammates Allan Wanga, James Situma, Noah Wafula and Osborne Monday for the first time. The former internationals leading Tusker to that year’s premier league title.‘’The top flight hadn’t changed much except for the fact that former professionals had returned back home and made it a little juicier, but still tough,’’ he says. ‘’We did well to finish 8th.’’The recently crowned champions from Tusker would make an unprecedented crossing over to Kakamega Homeboyz two seasons later, giving the western-based club a realistic sniff at the title. Having finished a club-high 4th from the previous 2017 season, 18-new players arrived at the club, among them Wanga, Situma and Wafula. It clearly was the best of times.Moses Mudavadi has been named the Kakamega Homeboyz February Player of the Month.He was rewarded with Ksh 50,000 and a personalised trophy by the club’s sponsor @mozzartbetkenya pic.twitter.com/cJXcx3f4bM— Jeff Kinyanjui (@_JeffKinyanjui) March 9, 2022 Mudavadi believes the wealth of experience brought in by the former pro’s elevated the team’s ambitions further.”They gave us more confidence, birth of the belief that we could win any match we went into,’’ says the former Tande High School player.The team would however linger in the mid-table for two seasons, the latter marred by match-fixing allegations. By the time FIFA wielded the axe on February 2020, Homeboyz had already done some house-cleaning and was well on it’s way to giving a spirited dash after Gor Mahia, coach Nicholas Muyoti in charge.‘’It’s something we only realised in retrospect. As a forward you struggle to get the goals upfront and then a section of players conspire to let in easy goals at the back. It was very unprofessional,’’ he adds.Though cut short on April 30 due to the covid-19 pandemic, season 19/20, is where the captain believes Homeboyz’s first league title could have first happened.‘’We had a match in hand, a win in this could have brought us to within 4 points and with over ten more games to play. It is realistic to say we stood a chance had the league gone on to completion,’’ he adds bitterly.The recently ended season is like a bad dream to him. You want to forget about it just as soon as you wake up. The closest Kakamega Homeboyz have come to offering the so called breath of fresh air.Mudavadi stays in Kabras, a few kilometres north of Kakamega town and when not in training at the Bukhungu Stadium, you’ll find him at home spending time with his family. His has been a journey of trying: From running down the left flank, starting in central midfield to even leading attack, he is the proper utility man. A few trials and error he stays hopeful of eventually steering the ship to shore, however much the sea does not wish him to reach shore. One day.
