Football fans in Busia County have been moved by the skills of a 14-year centre referee Collins Adenya despite his tender age.
While officiating a special match between Akobwait and visiting Kakemer FC as a centre referee, during the launch of Hon Leonard Onyondo’s cup on Sunday at Akobwait Primary School, Adenya stunned many trained referees with his whistle-handling exploits and vast knowledge of the laws of the game.
Adenya sat for the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams at Musokoto DEB Primary and obtained 253 marks out of a possible 500, and is set to join form one in 2024 in line with a 100 per cent transition.
“I picked up the interest of becoming a referee while in standard four after understudying renowned national referees who used to officiate matches at Akowait and Kwang’amor Primary school grounds,” noted Adenya.
With passion and experience already Adenya has earned a name in the county having been delegated the duties of centre referee in various tournaments at the school level and on the ongoing Liguru Cup at Kwang’amor Primary School grounds.
Adenya aspires to exploit his talents and become an acclaimed national and international referee, thus his passionate plea to relevant authorities to help him acquire requisite training as he also embarks on pursuing his secondary education.
“I appeal to my fellow youths not to waste time out there doing nothing but to engage in meaningful activities like the one I am undertaking of aspiring to become a professional referee,” Adenya said.
Hon. Onyondo, the sponsor of the Cup donated Sh 10,000 to go towards payment of Adenya’s fees when he joins Form One next year.
“I will continue lending a helping hand on his academic progression and monitoring his progress in the field of play. We need another Maxim Itur, a former FIFA referee who hails from the area, thus the need to have Adenya trained as a referee,” he said.
The MCA said, having watched the special match, which Kakemer won 2-0, he saw emerging talents in the young man.” He has mastered the laws of the game handling the match for 90 minutes without any hitches,” he said.
He added, “The youthful referee knew when to caution a player and award a free kick. Most importantly, he reversed a red card and later replaced it with a yellow card. He did that with the knowledge that the law protects him to use his discretion while discharging his mandate.”
Douglas Oduor said he was the brain behind Adenya’s talent nurturing, noting that the youthful referee can go places if he is assisted by the county or national government in tapping such talents.
A teacher at Akobwait Primary School Sylvia Oliwa said Adenya’s marks can take him to form one, calling for concerted efforts to help him achieve his cherished dreams of becoming a professional referee.
Joseph Ouma said Adenya used to follow them wherever they went to officiate matches, adding that they want him to become the first referee from the Akobwait sub-location to enter into history books.
By Absalom Namwalo
