Position: Midfielder
Birthdate: 06/25/1999
Hometown: Mombasa, Kenya
Previous Club: Nashville SC
College: University of Washington
Height: 5-9
Hanwalla enters his first season with the Black and Yellow after signing with the club in January 2023.
Bwana arrives in Charleston after spending the past three seasons with Major League Soccer side Nashville SC. The former Nashville No. 7 had a brief loan spell with Memphis 901 FC at the end of 2022, making four appearances and scoring one goal.
Nashville acquired Bwana in 2020 from Seattle Sounders FC via trade. Bwana played for Seattle from 2018 to 2020, lifting the MLS Cup in 2019. He was signed by Seattle as a Homegrown Player in 2018 from the club’s academy and made his senior debut the same year, against Liga MX side Chivas in the Concacaf Champions League.
Bwana rejoins former Memphis teammates Derek Dodson, Chris Allan and Trey Muse in Charleston. He and Muse also know each other from their time together in Seattle.
Handwalla was born in Mombasa, Kenya, and comes of Somali descent via his father, who was also a professional footballer.
Bwana first arrived in the United States in 2010 in Atlanta after growing up in a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya. Later moving to Seattle, he became a member of the Sounders’ academy in 2015 and made his professional debut with Seattle Sounders FC 2 that same year.
After a pair of seasons with Sounders 2, Bwana embarked on a college career with the University of Washington. Bwana tallied 11 goals and 11 assists across the 2016 and 2017 campaigns with the Huskies. He was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2016 and earned first-team all-conference honors in 2017.
