Constant Cap has been a force to reckon with over the years in the Kenya Rugby circle. He has gradually moved up the match official ranks owing to his command of the game when he’s the center referee over the years. This Saturday 26th October, Cap took charge of his 100th match as the Kenyatta University Blakblad took on Stanbic Mwamba at the Kenyatta University.
His first Kenya Cup match was in 2008 between Mean Machine and the Strathmore Leos, this was after five years of being a member of the Kenya Rugby Referees Society(now known as the Kenya Rugby Referee Association). He described his experience as a very interesting one especially after years of reffing the Eric Shirley Shield, Mwamba Cup and the then Chairman’s Cup.
On his officiating path, Cap says that one has to always be very well prepared. “Preparing for a game (at whatever level) is extremely important and can make the difference between having a good game and not. A lot of self initiative is required and one should not wait to be spoon fed, this is also applies from day to day,” he adds.
When he joined the Referees Association back in 2002, the resources and numbers of match officials were limited compared to now where we have annual supply of rugby law books, the number of rugby educators is increasing by the year and so are the number of courses being held. “We now have several CMOs(Coaches of Match Official), video reviews, technical personnel. When all these are brought together, they improve our skills in officiating,” said Cap who was also one of the early beneficiaries of exchange programs.
Over these eleven years, Cap commends the Kenyan Clubs for continually becoming more and more professional and for also raising the expectations for higher and better levels of accuracy in all areas of the sport.
His parting shot to the upcoming referees: You need to put lots of self initiative and enjoy your refereeing. Learn from your mistakes and prepare well for every game.