On Saturday, 24th February, almost 300 young female players from ten provinces in Cambodia travelled to the ISF Sports Ground in Phnom Penh to compete in the ISF’s 9th annual Girls’ Tournament, a momentous day for women’s and girls’ sport in Cambodia.

Poverty, domestic expectations, cultural traditions and stereotypes present a major barrier to women and girls’ active participation in society and more specifically sport in Cambodia. Before ISF started running its annual Girls’ Tournament, there were no official organized opportunities for females to play football in Cambodia. Since the program’s inception, ISF’s provision of football for female players has grown from 48 players in 2008 to over 1,600 in 2018 and we now employ two female coaches. ISF is proud to have been a pioneer of women’s football in the country and seek to continue to foster gender equality and social inclusion through sport.

This year, ISF is partnering with Goldman Sachs Gives as the sponsor of the Girls’ Tournament for the next three years. Goldman Sachs Gives are supporting ISF in working to promote education and sport in communities marked by extreme poverty; empowering female players to challenge gender stereotypes and discrimination, and providing opportunities for personal development, peer-to-peer education and mentoring through coaching.

Vicheka Chourp, ISF’s Country Manager, explained: “In Cambodia, girls are less likely than boys to participate in sport, which continues to be dominated by males. However, our research in local  communities demonstrates that there is significant will and interest from girls to play football but that poverty, domestic expectations, cultural traditions and stereotypes prevent their participation. Through the Goldman Sachs Gives – ISF Girls’ Tournament, we aim to increase girls’ access to quality football training and competitive matches. Teams of girl players from across Cambodia trained hard to develop their skills in order to join the tournament in Phnom Penh where they competed with determination, encouraged each other and learnt to challenge themselves whilst having fun. I am positive that the event will boost women’s sport in the country, empowering young women more generally and promoting gender equality.”

The Goldman Sachs Gives – ISF Girls’ Tournament 2018 saw 24 girls’ teams competing to win the trophy and almost 1,000 spectators gathered to cheer their female players on, eager to see them perform well. All the teams did their best and demonstrated some fantastic teamwork, but only the Flying Tigers, ISF Stung Meanchey team,  and Ta Ream School from Kompong Thom reached the finals. After fierce competition, we are thrilled to announce that the Flying Tigers became the 2018 ISF U14 Girls Champions! Read the full results here.

Further to this, games and activities for 80 players with special needs, supported by Football for Hope, were held alongside the tournament, promoting equality and diversity and providing youth with the opportunity to have fun, develop friendships and build confidence.