Project Report
| Dec 2, 2019
Flame's Female Football Coach
By Sue Hanna | Executive Founder
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Girls love football
Chanthy, the Flame Head Coach shared some of her personal story with me as we attended the Tottenham Hotspur training together last month, led by @tottemhamhotspur development coaches @shawnharris and @antonblackwood.
Chanthy saw football being played years ago when she was working as a cleaner. She loved watching the kids have fun and could clearly see the benefits of football. When the coach resigned she couldn’t stand the thought of the kids missing out, so she put her hand up and became the new football coach. Since then, Chanthy has gained many football training qualifications and 15 years later, football is still her passion and joy. She is now the assistant coach to the Cambodian Women’s National Football team as well as working with the six Flame Football teams. She has seen the power of football and in particular, the impact that it has on the lives of girls.
She told me this story:
“One day, a girl showed up at one of our training sessions. She obviously really loved the challenge of being on the field with the boys who were physically bigger and stronger than her… but then her father arrived. He ran onto the field wielding two long pieces of bamboo and started chasing her. She ran for her life but he caught up with her and started thrashing the backs of her bare legs, the sharp sticks welting skin. He was yelling brutally, “You are a girl! Why are you here? All the players are boys! Get off the field!!!” Chanthy ran over and put herself in-between the irate father and the girl, and tried to explain to him that his daughter would be able to become strong, and learn critical skills for life that would take her far… The marks on the girls legs needed ice and some care and she was crying bitterly but this did not stop her from coming back to training. The next session, she brought a friend and now there are 15 girls playing football regularly here.”
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Sep 3, 2019
Why sports?
By Sue Hanna | Executive Founder
![Flame's Full Circle]()
Flame's Full Circle
Someone asked me last week “WHY DOES FLAME DO FOOTBALL WHEN CAMBODIAN KIDS OFTEN GO HUNGRY?”
We have been consistently promoting sport at Flame because we believe that it’s a smart way to connect with young people in a way that will help them both on and off the field. This is not just a hunch! As I have dug into UN documents and research about sport as a tool to help at risk communities, I have found a clear link with improved academic outcomes. Literacy is absolutely necessary to becoming a leader, and slum living kids becoming leaders is what Flame is all about!
High school enrollment in Cambodia sits at 57%*. Participation in sport has been shown to have a direct relationship with a more positive attitude toward school work and improved academic performance. These academic factors are important predictors of future educational attainment and occupational success. This is what is necessary for sustainable development. Flame wants to see long term impact in these communities and this is one proven way of achieving that. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development states that sport contributes to the empowerment of communities as a while and particularly, to the empowerment of youth.
Recently the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) also linked sport with life-skills development and crime prevention. Being part of a team promotes inclusion and creates a positive sense of well being among the players. Football is a popular pastime among the slum living kids and has a wide reach -we don’t need to recruit kids or twist anyone’s arm to play.
So this is why we have a focus on football! We are so grateful to you for the help you give to keep the teams afloat, buy gear and pay the field costs.
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Jun 5, 2019
Overcoming Obstacles
By Sue Hanna | Executive Founder
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Your support has given us a platform to input into kids lives through sport. we believe that the best way for kids to learn is by watching role models, so when the sports field we were using for 2 of the teams was sold to developers we had the great opportunity to show the kids in 2 of our teams how to face problems, find solutions and do it all with a great attitude.
The kids were amazed at how the Flame coaches and mentors remained positive and found creative solutions for practice spaces to allow them to continue playing the sport they love. They are now enjoying practising on a new playing field that is actually better than the last one.
The numbers of kids coming to practise has increased to 100 and the exciting thing for us is that 28 of those are girls. Your donations have meant that these 100 kids are practising twice a week and playing in a local competition each weekend. Flame teams win most of their games in the competition and the challenge we are addressing now is teaching the kids that being fair and playing with good sportsmanship is more important than the score.
Becuase of you - 100 kids are learning essential life skills.
We deeply appreciate you and your partnership
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