Our soccer program is complementary to our school English & Nutritional program. A sound mind and healthy body go hand in hand to develop full potential and confidence for young students. This year we have four teams entered into a weekend Soccer League with our two Khmer coaches. This gives them the opportunity to develop skills and takes them out of their rural environment. Confidence building and sportsmanship are a great tool for success and encouragement to dream big.
Children from Rural Cambodian Villages do not have the possibility of being part of organized sports. Their exercise consists of toiling in the rice fields to earn extra income for the family. Their school day is spent in cramped and badly ventilated and lit classrooms. The lack of sports facilities and programing prevents them from developing phyiscal strength and coordination, leadership as well as team work and gender collaboration.
Coaching and entering in the Soccer League with teams of different ages and genders,( including a mixed team of boys and girls), will enable students to improve their sports skills and confidence. There are 36 students per week for 16 weeks entered into the league. They practise twice a week for 2 hours. We are especially proud of having a girls participating.It is also an outing once a week away from the rural village to show them the bigger world of opportunities.
By introducing the idea of competitve sports in the rural community, we are able to build confidence and leadership abilities. The team players are role models and inspire their classmates, the 750 students in TaPang primary and secondary school. It is the beginning of a pyramid that inspires wellbeing and participation in sports acitivites in the larger community.
