While the bulk of our operations are in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, we know that access to sport and play is also severely limited for children living in rural areas. Every year, we organize football festivals and community leagues in provinces outside Phnom Penh to promote football in rural communities, to train local coaches and to engage more children in physical activities that lead to improved health and well-being.

Last week, we took our Community Football Festival to Banteay Meanchey, a province in Cambodia’s northwest. Here, we ran activities and friendly matches for 237 children over two days. Typically when it comes to competitive sport in Cambodia, girls have less access than boys, and access for disabled children is almost non-existent. One of the objectives of our football programme is to try and reduce these inequalities and provide a safe, fun space for children to play, socialize and develop new skills.

This year, we were delighted to see that of the children participating in the festival, over 45% were girls. The continued increase of girls joining our football programme demonstrates a big shift in football’s role for women and society in Cambodia. We also increased the overall number of teams participating in the league by 25% on last year, bringing it from 8 teams in 2017 to 10 teams in 2010 and we were excited to welcome a deaf/hearing impaired team from Deaf Development Cambodia.

Another key component to our inclusive football programme is our social impact training. AT ISF, we believe that sport can be a powerful vehicle for social change. Our football coaches act as role models for the players and integrate important modules around United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to address issues such as: gender equality, conflict prevention, health and wellness and other life skills. During the festival our coaches introduced our social impact syllabus, which was developed in partnership with Coaches Across Continents, to 35 local coaches (54% male and 46% female).

Both the young participants and our own coaches were thrilled with the events and we look forward to continuing this work year on year, building numbers as we go.

RESULTS:

Community League Group A
DDP PP Vs The Flying Tiger (ISF): 5-8
Emperor Stone (Athyreach Thmor) Vs Red Ant: 1-1

Community League Group B
Mohameth Viyealey Vs Sangkat Rolous Youth: 9-3
Srok Thom Village Vs Rolus Meas: 2-6