 Yes, and welcome back. This is the touchline on Banado Kumu and to our second interview where we're talking to Lydia Kaparo, former Kenyan International. She turned out for the National Women's Cricket in between 2010 and 2015. Also played hockey for the women's side sliders and also does sometimes attempted to run, but all the same she is now wearing a different hat but still in cricket. Welcome, Lydia Kaparo. Thank you very much. To our show today and of course we basically have to begin with your playing career. That's cricket. How did you pick up cricket? Funny. Anyway, I've been into sports when I was in high school and I really enjoyed being on the field. I met a friend of mine who I went to school with who had started playing cricket and one day I was going for my hockey training and she told me, divert from your hockey training, come to the cricket and see if you would like it. So that's how I went on a Friday. I was given a ball and I started my journey there. That's how you began, but who are the key people who maybe who encouraged you and held your hand as you learned the sport that you just came in touch with at that moment? Okay, so Ruth Mihaki was the former player who is one who brought me there and then I met the likes of late Emily Ruto who is one of my friends. And then Dan Okinyu who actually was one who introduced me to the sport so I thank him for that because otherwise if it was not for him then I would have stayed back. So he was one who taught me what to do and then from there I just kicked her off. Yes, and at that time he was done was handling the national women's team, right? So you went straight into the national women's team. Lucky you are, right? I was lucky to meet them actually. I started training them. I thought it was going to be hard because I mean I met people who played since they were like little children. And here I'm an adult and I'm trying out a new sport which I've never played but it was easy for me because I've been a sports person. I've played sports before so it was very easy. It was like a smooth sailing to me so I just got the basics. So you got into the national women's team. How easy was it for you? What else did you have to do before breaking into maybe earning your first matches? So for me to learn about cricket I used to come and train with them but during the league matches I would sit down. I was taught how to score. So from scoring I was able to understand the game better and be able to play. So I started by just playing in the ladies league and from there I kept on training and I found myself being called to come and train with them now. Like the main team and that's how I got to play for Kenya. What did that mean to your position that you played? I liked bowling. I started as a lower batter like in the batting order I used to come down. But eventually I got the correct basics and I was able to come up. I was opening at some point in the late Ruto and former captain Magrid Banja. So I really enjoyed it and I was an all-rounder. I enjoyed everything being on the field as a fielder bowling and batting. So I really enjoyed the whole concepting of cricket. What was your brightest moment as a national team member? A couple. But I remember one day when I made my debut in Uganda and I came in number nine. I almost scored the most runs for the team. The team didn't bat very well but I came in last. Number nine, that's the lower batter batting order. I was able to score decent runs and then the next match I was challenged to come in and open. So I think that was a big thing playing among the people who have been there for years. I really enjoyed it. I went for it and from then I got the confidence to keep going. That's how I said and I told myself if you want something you can always get it and you can do whatever it is that you think you can't do. Did you expect it to turn out that way? No, that was a surprise. I was actually enjoying myself. I said if I'm given a chance in the first eleven I'll just go do my best and enjoy what I'm doing. So that gave me an opportunity to come up the order and I had my position in the team because of the performance that I had. When you have your position because of performance how does it make you feel? Where else do you go? I mean it's a challenging question. Sometimes in sports you don't know. You will wake up sometimes and you're not performing and then there's a day you will wake up and you're not performing. You lose form sometimes and there's a time you're going to be on form. It's hard to predict but I mean training and you just keep doing what you ask to do or whatever you need to do and it will help you get to where you want to be. Was there any low moment? Yes, when I was joining. I didn't know fast much I was but I came to training on a Friday evening and they put me to play on a match on a Sunday. I didn't know we had to catch a ball to get somebody out. The only way I thought somebody would be run out is to throw the ball from the fielder to the wicket keeper. I didn't know you can throw to the bowler's end. So everybody could scream at me. Everybody was screaming. I'm just like I'm so confused. I don't know the sport and everybody thinks simply because you're a sportsperson you wouldn't understand that sport. I was thinking do I want to be here or is it a nice sport to play? I was totally confused but anyway it didn't dim my lights to continue playing the sport so I continued and I got to where I wanted to be. Maybe a coach came and gave you a word and told you not to worry. I remember Coach Dan had to step in and just like she's never played you guys need to come down and just support her and let her understand, teach her what she needs to learn and that's it. So that was one of my lowest moments in the game but yeah I've loved it since then. Yeah and you also belong to a team that I'll call it a pioneer women's team cricket team that really went on to bring Kenya I'll say glory you know did so well among them was the late Emily talk about her influence in the team at that time. May God continue resting her soul in peace. Emily I remember she was one of my best friends when I joined in. She was one of the people who actually made me stay and play the game because I remember I used to lie one time and I would say to her I don't have transport to go to training I just didn't want to go because I mean I was just like it's too hard I don't know if I'm going to make it where they were so I remember she would drive her car she would come to my house she would pick me up and drop me to the field and she did that for a whole week and told me it's not fair that you don't have you just don't want to come so I have to bring you and she made it a habit to come pick me up from the house and drop me so she's one of the people who actually held my hand and made me stay and I'm forever indebted to her and yeah I mean she was one of the best players best spinners I think we've ever had in Africa and she used to play with the men so she was a phenomenal player and I think she inspired so many people so many girls who were coming up so I think I mean if she was still here with us I think she would have influenced a lot of players yes and maybe the moments that the team did again along the road is winning Kwibuka how crucial were the titles especially to help the game gain the popularity and also the support from key stakeholders I mean that was an amazing moment in Kenya we actually have talent even the current team that we are having it's just a young team but I mean there is talent there was talent and there is always husband talent and I mean that Kwibuka tournament every year is getting more competitive and we are getting teams like Rwanda which were surprised the whole East Africa last year that is in 2023 they've always been we looked at them like teams which have been participating in tournaments but last year not contained us so last year was a surprise and nobody expected they would do what their cricket has grown massively there is so much talent there is a lot of investment as well yes there is a lot of investment and even making it to that national team they have like structures they have under 15s under 17 and 18 which is amazing to watch and I remember I was doing the umpiring in that tournament and it was amazing it was just amazing to watch these girls but yes as I said last time when we won the Kwibuka it was an amazing outing for the girls and they give their all and I keep on saying we Kenyans have we have the talent we've always had the talent it's just that we need more time to play and we need more fixtures we need to go play against more competitive teams so that we can improve otherwise if you don't have like a league which is running and you don't have you don't get to play against competitive games it's going to be very hard yes and of course you transition you just turned up for the national you are the national colors only for 5 years and then you went into management of sports but talk about your role here which the heart that you wearing that's the umpiring how what motivated you to get into cricket umpiring so I've always loved it I've been a scorer and one day I just searched I was doing the under 19 qualifiers that we hosted here and I had a chat with one of the machref and I said to him I mean I would love to umpire one day and not be on this end of scoring and I mean I've always loved it and I said one day I will want to do it so my last tour as a team manager I met this umpire who was making her debut she's called Lauren again bug from South Africa I had a chat with her and she said to me I mean for how long would you like to be a team manager would you not want to step in and do something which is different from just managing the team and I said to her I'll think about it so I kept in touch with her and as soon as I got home I spoke to the chairman of the umpiring association and I said I would really love to step in I would really love to start umpiring and since I played the game I have been a scorer it's easy for me to step in and start doing whatever it is that they are doing and they gave me a chance they told me if you would like to do it they gave me a match I remember they gave me a 50 over match in the men's team division one and I said that's the division which is lower the super league after the super league so I said why not so I went and it was hard the first time because the men see you and they were just like a lady cannot umpire then when you make decisions everybody is screaming on your ear but I didn't let that happen and that's allowed also in cricket right? it is allowed what are the terms that they use? sludging you will be sludging but how they do it it's like they intimidate you they want you to make a decision favoring them sometimes they want to see it's allowed because nobody stops a player wanting to appeal for something even when they think it's not out so it's allowed and it's just about how you stand your ground and make your own decisions and now I remember your biggest moment was umpiring in Kwaibuka and also the cities that was here which was between Kenya and Nepal how important were those high caliber marches that you officiated and how they gave you the belief to go on? I mean umpiring an international march is not an easy thing you get cameras all over everybody is watching every single step that you're doing and I thank Rwanda I keep on saying Rwanda gave me the platform to start my international umpiring I mean it was lovely it's a bit scary when you start but when you continue doing it it easens up your feelings of how you umpire I mean I loved it I loved it from the what go and it gave me the confidence to carry on then when Nepal came here and I was the only lady which was a great opportunity for me the Nepal team met me for the first time and they were just like oh they thought I was a skora nobody believed like you I was sitting having a meeting and nobody believed like you part of the umpire until you put on the uniform I had to keep explaining they keep on asking so what are you doing in this tournament so what are you doing in this tournament where they are right now it was an amazing thing and it was men so it was a men's team it's a very big challenge but I really enjoyed it and I think it pushed me to doing whatever it is that I love doing and of course you could be just coming in as the second ever Kenyan woman umpire but you can talk about how Jackie Janmohamed Kenya Association chair was influential and how she helped you of course she triblized that particular trail becoming she was the first and now what role did she play encouraging you to take up that particular to go that road I mean I appreciate her because when I was transitioning from it got to a point I could not play because of work commitments I had to go for training very early in the morning and I had to go to work again early in the morning so like I would come training from 6 to around 8.30 and then I would need to go start work at 9 o'clock so it was very hard for me to commute from my training ground to my school so I would miss practice here and there every day and it was hard so I had given up at some point but I don't know how she found me, she just looked for me and she called me one day and she told me how come you are not, I've been told you are not coming for training and I said it's hard for me to come to training because of work commitment and that's when she suggested if I would love because even when I was a player I was still helping with a lot of admin work and she asked me would you like to take this position and be a team and she spoke me into it and I said yeah I would love to do it it's a leadership because she saw some leadership skills in me and she told me she wants to hold my hand and I can step in and do that so it was an amazing journey it helped me, I've grown since I was able managing a whole national team and women it's not an easy thing but I loved it, I enjoyed it and yeah I mean we spoke about umpiring so every time maybe date with her she would speak to me and maybe encourage me to keep doing whatever it is and I thought it was going to be hard but until you get in there it's not hard and what are some of the qualities that those who aspire to step into that world they need to do I mean number one as an umpire keep time, I keep on saying you have to be, you have to keep time, be aware of the timing that you need to be at the ground and then how you present yourself in front of people don't be intimidated if you make a decision stick to your decision, don't let anybody let you cut down yeah I mean you just need to timings I mind about time time keeping how you present yourself in front of people clear decision making so what's the maybe before we wind up what's the forthcoming assignment for you 2024 we had a tournament which was cancelled in December because of the tournament which just concluded in Uganda the qualifiers but we're going to have another quadrangula we're hoping it's going to be soon but the upcoming african all african games which are happening in Ghana will not be part of it because I'll be leaving for UK for some network tournament so I won't be part of them but my next assignment I'm hoping quibuka or if the Kenya quadrangula tournament happens maybe we'll stop it and of course going to UK as a school sports teacher right Kenyan netbo so there's a Kenyan netbo tour so they pick children from all international schools and then they make a Kenyan team so I was selected as one of the coaches you're also a sports teacher yes indeed thank you so much Lydia Kaparo and maybe before I let you go what's your comment on Quinta Abel clenching the ICC associate play of the year award that's an amazing achievement congratulations I sent her text and I said it's not an easy thing for you to get where you are you've worked hard, you've done your best keep at it everybody has the goal that they want to achieve whatever it is that you want to achieve you will achieve if you work hard thank you so much Lydia Kaparo the cricket empire who's been speaking to Touchline and we wish you all the best up next we'll be talking about AFKON with the Barrio Bell keep 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