text: what does it mean when they talk about the player's caps? on tv, sometimes they'll show the age and caps. explain these caps to me please. caps - the number of times a player has represented his country's team  a cap is an appearance for the international team for which he is elegible. the term can be applied to any sport and any nationality of player. the term dates from the practice in the united kingdom of awarding a cap (meaning an item of headgear) to every player in an international match. the practice was first approved on may 10, 1886 for association football, after a proposal made by n. l. jackson, an old corinthian:  "that all players taking part for england in future international matches be presented with a white silk cap with red rose embroidered on the front. these to be termed international caps."  actual caps are not usually given anymore (caps for friendly matches still exist, and each player gets one cap per international competition), but the term "cap" for an international appearance has been retained. thus, a "cap" is awarded for each game played and so a player who has played x games, for the team, is said to have been capped x times or have won x caps.