AsiaLIFE

While the Cambodian national soccer team will not travel to South Africa in 2010, Spirit of Soccer is making a World Cup trip possible for rural Cambodian teens. Craig Gerard learns there is more to soccer than what happens on the field.

TWICE A MONTH IN Battambang province, a group of eight children and two adult coaches gather to practice soccer. The children, four boys and four girls, ages 15-18, all come from families affected by landmines. They travel up to three hours from rural villages throughout the province just to make the practice. All the players hope to make it to the World Cup. And this month, that is just where they are going.

The team was hand selected from hundreds of players in Battambang province by Spirit of Soccer, an organisation that teaches landmine awareness through soccer education. “Approximately 250 people were maimed by landmines in Cambodia in 2009,” says Spirit of Soccer Country Director Stephen Sonderman. Each of the selected players comes from families who have been affected by or are at risk from Explosive Remnants of War. The mission of the organisation is fairly simple, get groups of children to come for free football clinics, and while they are there teach them about the dangers of unexploded ordinances and landmines.

Spirit of Soccer works in seven other post-conflict countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, the Palestine, Columbia, and Sri Lanka, doing similar education seminars. It is part of a larger network of organisations that uses football to improve lives. When FIFA’s Football for Hope movement approached Spirit of Soccer to send a team from Cambodia to the 2010 World Cup, the organisation jumped at the chance, though the Cambodian team is the only group representing Spirit of Soccer at the tournament. The Cambodian Football Federation presented the team with shirts from the national team last month, and dubbed them the official Cambodian representatives at the World Cup.

The team will travel to South Africa to compete against 32 other youth teams representing 50 different countries in a mini-World Cup tournament. All of the players range from 15 to 18 years of age, and all of them, except for the Cambodian team are coming from urban areas.

“I don’t think one of our players weighs more than 100lbs,” says Rachel Haig, Senior Programme Advisor for Spirit of Soccer in Cambodia and Stephen’s wife. “And they will be going against teams who are bigger and stronger than them. But for us, it is about getting them to have as much fun as possible while they are there.”

Most of the players come from villages without electricity and two hours drive from a paved road, so getting on an airplane for international travel is a giant leap forward. “Just coming up with consistently spelled English names on their new passports was a challenge,” says Stephen. “The parents and children had no concept that travel officials outside of Cambodia wouldn’t be able to read the Khmer writing on their passports.”

There have been a whole host of hoops to jump through in managing the logistics of such a large trip. But the end result will be an experience the kids will never forget. “On an 11-hour layover in Kuala Lumpur, we’ll take the group to climb the Petronas Towers, and I think that will be a mind-blowing experience,” says Stephen. To acclimatise to the concept of travel, the group is touring Cambodia, from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville. In mid-May the team met with other Cambodian teens in Sihanoukville that have travelled internationally to talk about their experiences.

“They have fears, but they don’t know what questions to ask yet,” says Stephen. Together, with their own rice cooker, the team will travel to an event much larger than any of these kids can imagine. They will attend two or three World Cup games in Johannesburg, and meet teens from around the globe. “The group are now ambassadors for Spirit of Soccer,” says Rachel. They will teach their opponents about the dangers of landmines and unexploded ordinances, but will also teach them about Cambodian hospitality. “We are bringing kramas to give to all of the players on the teams we play,” says Stephen.

Sportsmanship has always been an important part of the group’s lessons. And while they may not dominate on the pitch, they will certainly win the hearts of all those they come across. Stephen and Rachel, both of whom will accompany the team to the tournament are no strangers to the World Cup. Between the two of them, they have been to five previous World Cup tournaments, but this one will be different.

“This will be an opportunity for these players to see the world outside of their villages,” explains Stephen. Rachel continues his thought, “We start each session by showing them a world map, explaining where they live and where we will travel to. For them, just knowing there are different countries that speak different languages, and eat different food is all a very new concept. This tournament gives them the opportunity to interact with that world.”