How Kenyan international Festus Onyango is balancing elite sport and running new law firm
Reading Time: 6min | Fri. 29.05.26. | 20:01
At a time when many athletes struggle to balance academics, career development and elite competition, his story stands out as a rare example of excellence in both sport and profession
For many Kenyan athletes, the final whistle often signals uncertainty about life beyond sport.
But for Kenyan international hockey player Festus Onyango, the transition into professional life began long before thoughts of retirement ever emerged.
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On the hockey pitch, Onyango has built a reputation as one of the deadliest forwards of his generation.
A consistent goal scorer, Kenya international, league winner, KHU Premier League MVP and multiple-time top scorer.
When he sets down his hockey stick, you will find him steadily carving out another identity in the legal profession, having launching his own practice, Festus Onyango & Company Advocates.
At a time when many athletes struggle to balance academics, career development and elite competition, Onyango’s story stands out as a rare example of excellence in both sport and profession.
The Warriors Hockey Club forward has represented Kenya 31 times internationally and scored 28 goals for the national team, while also becoming one of the most recognizable names in local hockey.
His rise started at Strathmore University, where he combined law studies with a flourishing hockey career, later joining Butali Warriors, one of Kenya’s most dominant clubs.
Looking back at his journey, Onyango says the memories are difficult to narrow down to a single moment.
“It is difficult to single out standout moments as there have been a couple, but at the very top is winning the league with Strathmore and Warriors, being crowned the KHU MVP and winning multiple top scorer awards,” said Onyango in an interview with Mozzart Sport.
His national team debut at the Hockey World League in Accra, Ghana in 2016 remains another defining milestone in his career.
“In fact, since playing my first league match in 2015, I have always finished either as top scorer or runners-up,” he added.
That consistency has made Onyango one of the most feared attackers in Kenyan hockey over the last decade.
During his time at Strathmore, he became a central figure in the Gladiators squad that won the Kenya Hockey Union Premier League title in 2016 before moving to Butali Warriors, where he continued his trophy-winning success.
His goal-scoring exploits have remained constant throughout his career.
Yet while hockey fans know him for his sharp finishing inside the circle, another demanding career has quietly developed away from the field.
Onyango, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya says the decision to open his firm was inspired by the desire to build an independent legal brand rooted in professionalism and service.
“What inspired me is the vision to create a legal brand of my own and after discussing the idea with my family and mentors, I believed that the time had come to venture out and build my own brand,” he explained.
“I want Festus Onyango & Co. Advocates to be a top-tier law firm, with client satisfaction being our foremost priority. I am also keen on pursuing Public Interest Litigation with an aim of developing jurisprudence in emerging areas of practice.”
The balancing act between law and elite hockey is far from easy.
A typical day for Onyango involves court preparation, legal drafting, reading case files and then switching mentally into athlete mode for evening training sessions.
“A normal day for me involves waking up early, preparing for court, drafting pleadings, reading and then training in the evening,” he said. “It all involves proper scheduling and creating time for both work and hockey.”
That discipline, he says, was nurtured early during his years at Maseno School, a school widely known for producing top talent both academically and in sport.
According to Onyango, the school environment helped him understand that sporting excellence and academics could successfully coexist.
“Studying at Maseno School made it really easy for me as the school administration ensured that not only did I perform exceptionally in academics, but it also gave me an opportunity to excel in hockey,” he recalled.
He remembers travelling to Lusaka, Zambia for the African Youth Olympic qualifiers shortly before sitting his national examinations, where he still managed to score an A plain of 82 points.
The foundation laid at Maseno would later continue at Strathmore University, an institution renowned for integrating elite sport with academic excellence.
Onyango credits the university’s sports scholarship structure for helping him pursue law while competing at the highest level of Kenyan hockey.
“The foremost challenge is inadequacy of resources. Success in both sport and career require resources to pursue,” he said.
“I am grateful that under a sports scholarship at Strathmore University, I was able to pursue my career at arguably the country and the region’s premier law school while also playing hockey at the only university side to ever lift the Premier League.”
Like many athletes attempting to build careers outside sport, Onyango admits there are moments when the demands become overwhelming.
Court deadlines, client expectations, training schedules and weekend matches often collide, forcing him to work beyond conventional hours.
“Often, it requires early mornings, late nights and working on weekends to ensure everything is handled professionally and deadlines met,” he said.
Still, the discipline developed through hockey continues to shape his mindset in law and leadership.
“Being a forward and a ‘goal machine’ always motivates me to score those important goals not only on the hockey pitch but also in the courtroom and in life generally,” explained Onyango.
“Hockey has taught me the resilience to keep going on the rainy days as it will not always be glory days. Some days you win, other days you learn.”
His story also reflects the realities facing Kenyan hockey players, where the sport remains largely amateur despite producing elite talent and national team players.
“It is not in doubt that hockey is an amateur sport in Kenya,” noted Onyango.
“With that in mind, I have always aimed at law as being the opportunity that will eventually help me give back fully to the sport of hockey.”
Part of that long-term vision is ensuring his law firm becomes a trusted legal institution within the sporting community.
“I aim at having Festus Onyango & Co. Advocates being the law firm the entirety of the hockey fraternity and their networks believe in to resolve their legal issues.”
Beyond his personal ambitions, Onyango hopes his journey can inspire younger athletes to prioritize education alongside sport instead of viewing the two as mutually exclusive.
“The reality is that hockey has not been commercialized in Kenya at the moment and having proper academic qualifications will open doors,” he said.
“To the young Kenyan athlete, books must be your best friend. Academic excellence allows you to enjoy the sport even further.”
As he continues leading the line for Warriors while simultaneously building his legal career, Onyango is already thinking about the legacy he wants to leave behind.
“In a few years to come, I want Festus Onyango & Co. Advocates to be able to give back to the sport, to open doors to the great talents that we have in Kenya,” he said.
He also hopes to continue the impact left by the late hockey administrator and advocate Dr. Wilfred Mutubwa, while remaining open to partnerships that can help uplift Kenyan athletes.
For Onyango, success is no longer measured only by goals scored or trophies won.
It is now equally defined by the lives he can impact beyond the hockey turf, in courtrooms, boardrooms and eventually through opportunities created for future generations of athletes.