Galway United, in the official club portal, describe Wilson Waweru as an electric player that is comfortable playing anywhere upfront. So good is he that he was handed a debut in the first team at just 17. Mozzart Sport pinned down the player for a quick interview.Briefly tell us about your early childhood upbringing – where you were born, your upbringing, education and touch on your familyI was born in Dublin, Ireland but I grew up and lived in Galway for all my life. I have a brother and a sister. I went to school and played my football in Galway too. my mom and dad raised me very well as a child but at the age of 9 my mother passed away in an accident. My father raised me alone and did an incredible job seeing how I have progressed with my football career and grown as a young man, hopefully my dad and mum are very proud. I completed primary and secondary school which led me into college for a year. The following year I decided to put my education on hold as I signed my first professional contract with my current club Galway United.How did your journey in football begin and when did you realise this is what you wanted to do for the rest of your life?I started playing football and other sports from young as I was very athletic but as the years went by, I had to concentrate on one sport and football was always my favourite. I realised I wanted to play football for the rest of my life since I was a child. Always having the support of my mother and father helped give me the confidence from young to pursue my dreams.Congratulations to GTI Elite Soccer graduate Wilson Waweru on signing a new contract with @GalwayUnitedFC Wilson has continued his impressive development at Galway United, leading him to score the winning goal in the playoff final this season. Well done Wilson from all at GTI.👏 pic.twitter.com/Ash5bacYpy— Galway Technical Institute (@GTIGALWAY) December 15, 2020 How were your early days at Mervue United and how did you get to join Galway United?At Mervue United I started playing since the age of 7 which it was young and I was inexperienced but the most important thing to me is I was having fun and I fell in love with the game. Year after year I improved and helped the team win many league and cup titles consecutively. I then realised I could have the potential to progress to the next level in football and as I grew older, I kept trying to improve and help my team to more title and cup successes.My club Mervue United and another club called Salthill Devon in Galway were invited to join the Underage Airtricity league when I was aged 14. We did okay in our first season which was an amazing experience playing teams at the higher level and the following year we were told that they want to combine Mervue and Salthill together and have one team in Galway playing in the Airtricity league which and that is how Galway United was born. I have continued to play in the Underage groups, scoring goals and helping the team perform well in the league and cup competitions for another year.At the age of 17 the first team manager John Caulfield requested to bring me into the first team after following my performance in the youth team and believed I had the potential to be a first team member. I made my professional league debut aged 17 at this point in stage I was still playing for the youth team and coming off the bench for the first team. So, I have always been with one club in Galway United but this is my journey from Mervue United.SQUAD NEWS ✍️ | Wilson Waweru, who is a promising member of our under-19 squad, has signed first team forms with the club.The 17-year-old attacker goes straight into contention for tonight’s league game against Athlone Town at Eamonn Deacy Park. #GUFC pic.twitter.com/W98B6hiShw— Gaillimh Aontaithe (@GalwayUnitedFC) July 6, 2018 You’ve got Kenyan roots, what’s your home area and do you visit the country?My mom and dad are both Kenyan born and raised in the capital (Nairobi). I have all my family there such as aunties, uncles, cousins and grandparents. I’ve been fortunate to visit my motherland three times and looking to go for a fourth time once the opportunity arises following the COVID pandemic and my professional football season finishing. It’s always a beautiful feeling being back home and look forward to the next opportunity.What do you like most about Kenya?The weather there is unbelievable and I’m a big fan of the heat, but what I love most is spending time with family and feeling the strong connection to my African roots and culture. Meeting all my cousins and family as they all have different personalities which is always fun to be around.Do you follow Kenyan football? Tell us briefly your opinion on the same?I don’t get to watch the Kenyan football league as the time difference and I work out a lot with my team preparations, I don’t use my phone very often but I have seen the setup of the premier league in Kenya via my social media accounts. The Kenyan football league looks like its growing year by year which is good for the country with an 18-team setup. Daniel Sakari – From oblivion to cementing Harambee Stars’ right back positionWho do you look up to in football and why?My favourite player in football is Paul Pogba i just love the personality the Frenchman has in games off the pitch I’d love to meet him one day. Being a centre forward, there’s two players I look up too for different reasons and attributes. First one is Harry Kane because of his ability as a striker to score goals and his work rate off the ball too, he is a very clinical striker inside the 18-yard box and a great leader for his club and country, second one is Wilfred Zaha. I’m always watching him play he is one of the most skilful and tricky players in the premier league and up there with the best in the world. I hope to add some of these attributes to my game as best to my ability.##EDITORS_CHOICE##What are your short term and long term goals?Currently my short-term goals are to keep trying to score and add to my goal tally for the season helping Galway United secure promotion to the Ireland Premier Division with us currently sitting second in the table. I hope to be playing football at a higher-level next season and to represent the Kenyan national teamMy long-term goals are to be an important striker for the Kenyan national team and also be playing in a top European league in front of thousands of fans on a weekly basic. Hopefully I can achieve this with hard work and patience as I’m still developing and building on my positive start to my professional career.Your targets for the season?My target was to be starting in the starting 11 at the start of season. It started off me coming off the bench in every game for the past 7 weeks but all of my impacts had changed most games where I came off to score in most games which saw me starting matches week in week out as our number 1 striker for 8/9 weeks now and still 2 months to go in the season, I’m looking to get 10+ goals at the end of the season as I’m currently on 6 goals. Also, I hope secure a national team call up these are my targets for the season.New deal for Kenyan International Wilson Waweru at Ireland first division side Galway United #StarsAbroad pic.twitter.com/Hg62751PHS— Jeff Kinyanjui (@Nyash88) December 15, 2020 Where do you see yourself in the next five years?I see myself playing football outside of Ireland and in a competitive professional football league in a different country as I’ve always wanted to explore and challenge myself to score goals in a different league and keep developingWhat do you think of Harambee Stars? Do you feel you could add something into the squad and what’s motivating your desire to play for the Kenyan National team?Having starting to follow the national team pre-covid as I didn’t know much on the national team as I was focused mostly on my youth football with Galway United. With having social media I’m able to keep up with the national team progress and have seen the team getting some strong results in their friendly and qualifiers. I feel I can bring a young exciting attacking threat and a provide a goal scoring attacking option for the national team to have available to use.My motivation to play for the national team comes from my mom and dad as I know it would be an honour for them to see their son represent the country on the international stage in football. I work hard every day in training for everything my parents have done for me to get as far as I have in my football career and playing for the national team would be my way of repaying them back. I have also had a burning desire to score goals on the highest levels of football club and country level since my professional debut at 17.Debunking Ambani’s mythical 26-goal record in a single seasonWhat would you tell young Kenyans wishing to play professional football anywhere in the UK or Europe?I would tell young Kenyans that no matter where you come from if you really love this sport and want to play at a professional level. You must work hard on and off the pitch after training you can train with a friend or individually to keep improving and developing. Practice that extra bit harder to get where you need to be and want to be. Be willing to listen and take advice from your coaches and managers to learn and improve your game. The hard work you put in the training pitch will come to reward you on the matchday and anyone can be watching you at any moment. So, believe in yourself, work hard, be willing to learn and take your opportunities when they come.Your parting shot?It is an honour to be a part of this interview with Mozzart Sport Kenya and hopefully grows my connection with the Kenyan football community worldwide and another positive step in my football career.
