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Harambee Starlets forward Esse Akida has penned her football experience in a book set to be launched soon.
Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon had everything ready for me. The deal came at a time when I was so ready for professional football and to date, I think it was God’s way of answering a long-time prayer. The team had sent a pre-contract which I had signed as this was to help with my VISA application, paid everything for the trip and all that was left was for me to show myself up in Israel.
I had kept this deal under wraps for the scavenging media who had got a clue about a move from my teammates but the pressure was too much on the day that I left the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for my first stint abroad. I remember having people close to me accompany me to the airport and while all of them were happy for me, I kept asking myself a lot of questions.
The uncertainty in me was too much going by what I had read from country Israel. And considering I was still going for a trial period the pressure was just too much. What would happen if I failed? Were there people I could depend on if things went south in that country? What of the culture? The weather? Language barrier? The food? There were just a lot of questions that I didn’t even enjoy my flight that much.
The pressure was however released when I landed at the Ben Gurion International Airport after being received by a club official. It was the first sign of good things to come as the fear of not being picked had earlier crossed in my mind.
Through the journey to the team’s hostels, we didn’t talk much with the official with the less communication we had being about introduction. I felt more relaxed the more the journey continued and when we reached our destination, I think I had known a thing or two about the city I was to call home for the next year.
I didn’t do much in the first week since the team had not reported back for preseason. I was the first player to arrive and was later joined by two Brazilian and a Costa Rican who just like me, were new signings. In the first week, all I could do was eat and sleep. But as days went by, I saw the wide gap between men's and women's football.
While colleagues back at home thought I was living the best of lives, the environment was more or less the same as the teams I had been in before the difference only being that I was doing the same things in a different country. We would do our laundry, and replenish our food the only difference being that I was now living in a clubhouse and wasn’t expected to pay house rent.
First team players started streaming in in my second week of stay and they are the people who started showing us around. We would join them in the gym, swimming and the light training they were attending before the main business of preseason started in the third week. I was so ready for the challenge that the two weeks seemed like an eternity. I couldn’t wait for that third week and when it came, I tackled it with everything I had learnt from this football world.
The first thing we all went through before the start of preseason was the medicals. I had never seen such things before but while they didn’t look strange to me going by the research I had done about transfers, it was hitting me that I was now a professional footballer. But when it was my turn for the checks, my first tragedy struck.
The doctor found out that there was something strange with my heart. While he promised that it wasn’t anything serious, his advice to the team was that I needed more tests on the same. I joined the rest of my teammates in training thereafter but the news had infiltrated my soul. I didn’t know how to react to it since I wanted the deal so bad.
The second and third tests were planned in days and to my relief, I was able to pass all of them. In my last test, the doctor told me that there was nothing wrong with my heart condition but their worry was on the shape which he said was only found in a few people most of who were not in football. They had to ensure that it was the only strange thing before giving me the green light to be involved in a thorough exercise with my teammates.
That’s the news I had been waiting for and from then it was all system go. I had been told that I would only sign the deal after a two-week trial but by the end of the week, I had impressed the team to earn myself a deal. I still remember vividly the day I was called to the office to sign my first professional contract with the unveiling following.
I didn’t want anything to pass me and had the cameraman capture everything with my phone too because it was something my family was waiting for. I could see the joy in my mum when I called to inform her about the deal. Everyone was happy. After informing them followed my close friends before the club finally announced my arrival.
“Delighted to announce that I have officially joined the Israeli side Ramat HaSharon FC. It's a dream come true for me and can't wait to get started,” I posted on my social media accounts which was slowly gaining traction. I think the news blew up more so on Twitter with local journalists being all over wanting to know more about the move.
It was something that had escaped them and everyone wanted a scoop. I went under the radar for some time because I needed time to soak in the newfound life but opened up much later when I felt it was the right time to reveal the deal. My social handles were now being managed by professionals and the numbers had skyrocketed enormously after that move.
The attention rose and I had to handle things differently if I was not going to be immersed in off-field issues. I was no longer the naïve girl who had left Kilifi for Nairobi but someone who was being checked and followed by more people around the globe. I was now a role model and had to watch my every move. Engaging people on social media wasn’t going to be my thing if I was to concentrate on football.
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