Social Impact Training for Senior and Young Coaches in Siem Reap

ISF knows from experience that changing Cambodia for the better, one child at a time, is a goal that transcends the classroom and lands on the football pitch. It starts with live, active, on-and-off-the-field training of football coaches — and not just about how to have fun trying to kick the ball into the goal.

The ISF Football Programme benefits hundreds of kids — who, in order to play, need coaching. In September, ISF convened an intensive, five-day, training module in Siem Reap for 72 coaches, including six senior and 66 younger coaches. Thirty-four were women. The long-time goal of ISF is to use sport as a way to educate, motivate and empower young people. And training coaches allows the coaches help the kids, promoting positive behavior on and off the pitch. It’s so much more than just physical participation in sport. It’s also about teaching self respect, emotional development and sportsmanship.

The training topics touch on drug and alcohol abuse, gambling, gender equality, disability, social inclusion, health, children rights and teamwork. For the coaches, the ISF training in Siem Reap and elsewhere stresses this wider social impact that plays out through the prism of football games and related activities. The coaches are then better prepared to engage children in multiple, locally relevant social issues, while also helping kids develop football skills, confidence, leadership, teamwork and decision-making skills in a fun and safe environment.

The ISF goals for players come into sharp focus through regular training, tournaments and other events, thanks largely to the abilities and dedication of coaches and young leaders in Cambodia. Every year, the ISF Football Programme trains coaches in three provinces, including Phnom Penh, to better understand ISF’s social impact curriculum. This benefits coaches with their own key life skills, helping them to move forward and achieve personal goals. And building on that, it helps coaches inspire young people to make correct life choices and share newfound knowledge, confidence and leadership in their communities.

“Football is fun, but it can be more than that too,” says Boran Sok, ISF Football Programme Coordinator. “There are ways we can use it to learn and teach about social issues, such as drug and alcohol abuse and gender inequality. That’s at the heart of what we try to do at ISF.”

Vichet, a young coach and training participant, says: “For me, the social impact training ISF delivers is very different from other football training because it teaches participants about social issues. This training encourages people from many different minorities to play sport, develop their confidence, and express their opinions, and it also helps young people to stay away from illegal drugs and crime.”