On Saturday, 5 May 2018, we held our annual All Abilities Football Tournament at the ISF Sports Ground in Preah Theat Village, Phnom Penh. The inclusive tournament which brought together players with physical and intellectual disabilities as well as players living with HIV , is one of the few events in Cambodia which offers opportunities for youth with disabilities to play football competitively.

Our Football Programme, which reaches almost 4,000 players, focuses on providing education, sport and play to some of Cambodia’s most marginalized children and does not discriminate based on gender, ability, religion or ethnic background. Over 40% of our players are girls, and we work with around 300 players with a range of disabilities including deaf and hearing-impaired, blind and vision-impaired, wheelchair users, HIV-positive players and those with intellectual disabilities including autistic spectrum disorder and Down syndrome.

People with disabilities are often excluded from Cambodian society and rarely have access to education, sport and play. But, through our Football Programme, they receive regular coaching (including social impact training) and participate in integrated events throughout the year such as Saturday’s tournament. Our evaluation conducted on the day, revealed that between 70-100% of participants felt that they had developed key employability skills including confidence, teamwork, communication and social skills through the programme.

We’d like to thank Coaches Across Continents and Football For Hope and all of our other supporters for making events like this tournament possible. In order to provide opportunities to a wide range of disadvantaged and marginalised children and youth around the country, we also work in partnership with more than 30 other local non-profits and schools.