Increasing Inclusion in Sport at the Deaf/Hearing-Impaired Tournament
Increasing Inclusion in Sport at the Deaf/Hearing-Impaired Tournament
On one of the last sunny Saturdays of 2019, 204 deaf and hearing-impaired players took to the field at ISF Sports Ground. They’d come to take part in the annual ISF Deaf/Hearing-Impaired Tournament. These young athletes study with ISF partner organisations Krousar Thmey and Deaf Development Programme (DDP) and had traveled from across Cambodia to demonstrate their skills.
This year’s Deaf / Hearing-Impaired Tournament features 17 teams in total; 5 of which were female teams. The women’s teams came from Krousar Thmey institutions in Phnom Penh, Battambang, and Siem Reap; while another two traveled from Kampong Cham, and Kampot with DDP. Seven male teams joined the event from Krousar Thmey schools in Phnom Penh Thmey, Battambang, Chbar Ampov, and Siem Reap. The remaining male teams hailed from DDP facilities in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham and Kampot.
Before the main event, ISF coaches facilitated an All-Abilities football demonstration. These short exhibition matches included blind footballers, players with intellectual disabilities, wheelchair bound teams, and youth living with HIV. All-Abilities activities like these are a part of the FIFA Foundation’s Community Programme. FIFA Foundation is an independent entity with the objective to help promote positive social change by supporting projects like ours around the world.
The rest of the morning was devoted to match-ups of our deafand hearing-impaired teams. As afternoon approached, the day’s champions were decided. With top honours going to DDP Phnom Penh 1 male team and Krousar Thmey Battambang female team. Congratulations go out to all teams, they played wonderfully.
Promoting Inclusion and Acceptance
As part of our commitment to improving the lives of marginalised youth, ISF organises this yearly Deaf/Hearing Impaired tournament to promote inclusion in sport. Unfortunately in Cambodia, disabled children are often denied access to general society and chances to engage in competitive sport are almost non-existent. By facilitating tournaments like this one and partnering with fantastic organisations like Krousar Thmey and DDP, we aim to change that. Also, in weekly training sessions, our Football Programme Team devotes some time to teaching social impact lessons. The curriculum they share was developed in cooperation with Coaches Across Continents (CAC) and focused on positive play to teach relevant social impact lessons. Our coaches cover topics such as: inclusion, gender equality, teamwork and conflict resolution.
About Krousar Thmey
Krousar Thmey, which translates to ‘New Family’ in Khmer was founded in 1991. The organisation provides a wide range of interconnected programmes offering comprehensive support for disadvantaged Cambodia children. It is “managed by Cambodians for Cambodians”; employing more than 60 Cambodian nationals, with only four international volunteers.
They opened the first school for deaf children in 1997 in order to enable deaf or blind children to find their place in society. Krousar Thmey does so by providing them with education and support which will prepare them for working life. After creating and administering 5 special schools of the country over the last 25 years, they have now transferred their management to the local authorities, which created the first public special education system in Cambodia.
About DDP
The Deaf Development Programme (DDP) is a project of Maryknoll Cambodia. This US-based Catholic Mission organisation serves the poor in 35 countries worldwide. DDP is dedicated to achieving two goals. Firstly, working alongside deaf people and their families to assist them to integrate into society. And second, achieving independence and equality for the 51,000 plus deaf people in Cambodia.
DDP works to remove barriers preventing deaf people in Cambodia from achieving equality by providing Cambodian Sign Language research and development, education and job training courses, and community development activities. The organisation also renders Cambodian Sign Language interpreting and other social services.
