Three Months On

Well, it's been three months since the Cambodian team returned from South Africa.  The team returned to their villages in time to work in the rice paddies with their families and the strong memories from South Africa started slipping away like sand through the hour glass.

Luckily, we had our first rendezvous three weeks after returning.  The team reunited in Battambang, sans Vrak who's family had moved to Southeastern Cambodia following his father's serious stroke.  Vrak had to stay with his father to help take care of him as he is semi-paralyzed.

The first order of business was sharing photos from the trip.  Each player had a scrap book they made from photos during the six months of training.  We printed out hundreds of pictures from the trip, laid them out on the table and the team went nuts oohing, ahhing, giggling and nudging each other as they relived their incredible journey to South Africa.  One of the memories which gets the most laughter is the photo of Linda and her crush, Johann, the German blondie.  Another team favorite is Sengvy with a player from Brazil and a player from South Africa who could be his brothers.

After scrapbooking and reliving highlights of the festival, the Football For Hope team played a match against the the Spirit of Soccer coaches.  The experience playing together as a team and the fitness level of the FFH team was no match for the Spirit of Soccer coaches.  The FFH team won 5-1.  After a team dinner with the entire SOS family, everyone gathered to watch a slide show of the trip to South Africa, put to the team's favorite songs - Shakira's Waka Waka & Kanye West's Wave Your Flag, the World Cup anthems which we heard hundreds of times during the Festival.  After the slideshow, the team did a question and answer with the SOS coaches, giving everyone a chance to hear more about the journey.  With questions such as "What was it like to be in an airplane" to "How was the food in South Africa" to "Why do you think the organizers put on the Festival", it gave the SOS coaches a better understanding of the trip and it helped the team realize all they had done in South Africa and what a unique opportunity they had been given.

We asked the team what they would like to do with their experiences from the trip and how could we build on the experience.  Collectively, the team said they would like to come together once a month in Battambang to continue learning English, begin to learn computer skills (especially facebook as they had seen all the other teams on facebook in the game room) and begin to learn coaching skills.  Done.  We committed to meeting every four to five weeks with the team to ensure the Festival experience would continue to have a positive impact on the team's lives.

At the second session post-South Africa, we prepared a presentation for the team to follow the slide show, which included prepared questions and answers.  The idea was to help the team with their public speaking and leadership skills to enable them to share their experiences with other children in Cambodia.  After practicing the presentation several times, the team had a coaching clinic with Coach Heang and Coach Kamsort.

The next day, we took the show on the road.  The team did a presentation to a crowd of 75 kids at a local orphanage, who watched the slide show in wonder.  They couldn't believe kids just like them went on an airplane and played football in an international tournament.  The question and answer sessions was a huge success with the FFH team proudly sharing their experiences and the kids from the orphanage excited to ask specific questions about the trip.  A football clinic followed the presentation, with the FFH team assisting the SOS coaches.  The FFH team took their role as coaches very seriously and they were amazing with the kids.  The kids mobbed the team at the end of the session begging for photos with the superstars, giving high fives and asking more questions about South Africa.  The day could not have been any more successful for all parties involved.

We had found our way to help the FFH team grow into leaders and to share their experience with other disadvantaged kids in Cambodia.  The team has done three presentations thus far and they are becoming more and more comfortable speaking in front of a group.  They are more confident and now realize the importance of them giving back to their communities.  Each of the team members is now coaching kids in their communities with their new-found coaching skills and confidence.

Homeward Bound

After many tearful goodbyes to all our new friends from around the planet, Spirit of Soccer Cambodia headed to the Jo'Burg airport with 45 bags, including ten new/used laptops from the Football For Hope Organizers, and one big metal case with our Fair Play Trophy.  Check-in was a bit of a nightmare and through smiles, gifts and pleading, we did not have to pay any extra baggage fees.  Thank you Malaysia Airlines. 

Despite the elation from winning the Fair Play Award and numerous crushes on other players (especially Johann the German blondie), the team was more than ready to get back to Cambodia, the Kingdom of Wonder.  They desperately missed rice, pra-hok (fermented fish paste which is put in most dishes and totally nasty) and warm weather, not to mention family and familiar faces.

The trip home was no easy task - a ten hour flight to Kuala Lumpur, a three hour layover in KL, a two hour flight to Phnom Penh, a four hour drive to Battambang and then anywhere from two to five hours by dirt road to get back to the teams' individual villages.  Couple the long journey with the fact that most of the team had finally succumbed to the flu which was going around the Team Village, it was going to be a long, painful journey home.  Luckily for us, complaining is not part of the Cambodian make up and as we anxiously checked their foreheads and asked the team how they felt, they kept saying they were fine.

A few nights prior to departure, Vanneath woke up with a high fever and we took him to the Village medical center.  He told us his mother always gives him malaria medicine when he has a fever and he was certain that was what he had.  Poor little guy didn't realize there are no mosquitoes in South Africa in winter and that he had the flu because he had never had it before.  The temperature got down to freezing every night during the Festival, but often was as warm as the 60s by day and none of the buildings had heat or insulation, so it wasn't surprising that the flu swept through the delegations.

After a little last minute shopping in the Jo'Burg Airport, we gave the team advil and cold medicine and loaded them up for the long flight to KL.  The excitement of being on the plane tided them over to the meal service and then they all cashed out for most of the flight.  Cambodians can sleep anywhere, at any point, especially if they're in a moving vehicle.  After snoozing through the three hour layover as well, the team was bouncing up and down in their seats the entire way to Phnom Penh.  They were especially excited to see so many Asians on the plane and not so many Barangs (Cambodian word for white foreginer, which actually means French).

Customs and baggage claim was a breeze at the tiny Phnom Penh airport, and the Spirit of Soccer crew was out front to welcome us home.  The team and all their bags were quickly loaded into the two Land Cruisers for the drive to Battambang.  We waved goodbye to our team with tears in our eyes, looking forward to our next rendezvous in a few weeks. 

What a incredible experience it has been for all.  We have so many people to thank for making it possible.  First and foremost, Scotty Lee, Founder of Spirit of Soccer for creating this incredible organization.  A huge thanks is owed to the Football for Hope Team, which includes Streetfootballworld, FIFA, the South African Local Organizing Committee and the City of Johannesburg.  A big Al'kun Cheran to the Cambodian Football Federation and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport for their support.  Thank you Spirit of Soccer employees for your help and willingness to do what it took to get this team to South Africa, especially Sokhorn who worked all the magic behind the scenes.  We can't forget our friends Britt, Casey and Laura at adidas and Agron who helped outfit the kids and the US Embassy who helped us receive the product.  Of course none of this would have been possible without our donors, especially the United States Government & PMWRW and the Laureus Sports Foundation.  There are dozens more who have helped us and we owe you all a huge thank you for helping change all of our lives for the better.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who is the Fairest of Them All?

http://www.streetfootballworld.org/news-center/newsfolder/football-for-hope-festival-2010-ends-on-a-high-note

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1271673/index.html


After six days of Festival activities and six days of playing soccer, the Spirit of Soccer Cambodian Team had met just about every player, coach, delegation leader, Festival organizer, dining hall worker, security guard and volunteer involved with the Football for Hope Festival. All of these new friends were taught the Cambodian prayer and bow and some of them were able to say hello and thank you in Khmer. Every time someone passed the Cambodian team, they would bow and smile with the newly learned custom. The Cambodian team was diligent in their pursuit of “hello” in as many languages as possible and it was adorable to watch them interact with the other teams and write down all their newly learned words.

The dining hall staff repeatedly told us how well-behaved and polite the team was and what a pleasure it was to have them in the Festival. On a couple nights, Channou, one of the team social butterflies, decided to hop behind the food line and help serve rice. Despite not being able to speak more than ten words of English, Channou was able to ask players from nearly 40 countries if they wanted one or two scoops of rice.

On the field, the team continued to be the epitome of fair play, despite continuing to tie or lose most games. The other teams enjoyed playing with the Cambodians. As the tournament progressed and games got more serious, we continued to remind the team that Fair Play was more important than winning and winning without Fair Play wasn’t why we were here.

The last day of the tournament consisted of the quarter finals, semi-finals and finals for both the Alex Cup and the Festival for Hope Cup, however the Cambodian team did not qualify for the advanced matches.  The team was sad to be finished playing and wished their record had been better in the matches.  After watching two gifted, strong African teams win their respective final matches, all the teams were called to the pitch for the final ceremony.  The winners of the two tournaments were given their trophies and the coveted Fair Play Award was saved for last.

For the two competitive awards, Alex Cup and Football For Hope Cup, the reception from the teams and the crowd was lukewarm, anti-climactic.

But the mood completely changed when Spirit of Soccer Cambodia was called as the winner of the Fair Play Award, an award voted on by the 32 delegations. The applause was deafening and over 3,000 people were on their feet clapping and cheering for the team.  The team jumped for joy, hugged, smiled and went up to receive the trophy from the FIFA and Streetfootballworld Directors.  Our emotions were on high and the tears were flowing as we accompanied the team to receive the award.  As we were congratulated by the Festival organizers and other delegation leaders and coaches, they were all wiping away tears while hugging and congratulating us on the award.  According to the Steetfootballworld website, "The beloved Cambodian delegation was voted by its peers as most deserving of the Fair Play Award".  It was a definite career high for us to be part of this amazing process.

After seven months of hard work, dedication, determination and love, this award made it all worthwhile and filled our hearts with joy.  We couldn't be more proud of the team and the coaches.  They truly were the darlings of the Festival and left a lasting impression on all who they met.

Play On

Bringing together teams of varying abilities, cultural differences and team ethos and expecting them to self-regulate their games is a risky proposition. The idea behind the “Fair Play” model at the Football for Hope Festival is that there are no referees, only mediators, called young leaders, monitoring the games. It is up to the teams to call fouls, out of bounds, free kicks and so on. The teams agree to particular rules prior to each game in a pre-match meeting and then discuss the game in a post-match meeting where each team decides whether to award the opposing team one Fair Play point or not, which gets added to the three points for a win, one point for a tie or no points for a loss for overall scoring.  At the end of the tournament, a fair play trophy is awarded to the team with the most Fair Play points, which also includes a separate vote from each team on the "Fairest" team at the event.

Throughout the six plus months of training with the Cambodian team, a great deal of emphasis was placed on Fair Play and how it is more important than winning the tournament. Our goal going into the tournament was to win the Fair Play award. To ensure Fair Play was part of the Cambodian play, the model was utilized in all training, practice games and was emphasized repeatedly by the coaches.  In the spirit of Fair Play, prior to each game, one of the Cambodian players gives the captain of the opposing team a Cambodian krama, the traditional scarf worn by all Cambodians.

From the first day, it was clear many of the teams came to win the tournament and not much thought or instruction had been given to the Fair Play aspect of the tournament.  Fair Play means no slide tackles, no arm grabs, pushes, etc.  After the first few days, many players were injured due to over exuberant play and all delegation leaders were implored to ensure their teams followed the Fair Play rules.  Team Cambodia may have taken Fair Play a little too far as they bowed and prayed to opposing teams after being fouled.  All games played by Team Cambodia were extremely fair, perhaps the gentle Cambdians bring out the best in other teams. 

As expected, Team Cambodia had a tough time playing against the bigger teams and did not win many games.  The team played well, especially the goalkeeper as they got hammered with shots.  It was hard to explain to the team they could lose a game and still play well.  The girls cried after most games, which broke our hearts.  It was emphasized that we didn't care how the games went, we were here for the experience.  During the last day of play, Team Cambodia fell apart, literally.  Vith, our star defender and sometime striker, sprained his ankle during the second to last game and had to be carried off the field.  In the last game, two other players had to be carried off the field and we were down to no subs.  The team held their own, but lost two tough matches.

During the down time at the stadium, teams were able to watch other teams play and interact with the local crowd.  Literally thousands of Alex Township kids came to the fields everyday to watch these international teams play.  The local kids loved the teams and followed them everywhere, mugging for cameras, mooching candy and giving high fives.  In the crowd, they cheered for teams with vuvuzelas blaring.  The atmosphere was like the World Cup.  The tournament has been an incredible experience for Team Cambodia and they have played very well.  We're keeping our fingers crossed about the Fair Play trophy.

Let the Games Begin!

After a successful first week of Festival activites, it is now time for week two - the Football for Hope Tournament.  With the acclimatizion to the winter climate nearly complete, the jet lag licked and the cultural barriers overcome, the teams are ready to play ball.  The 32 teams are divided into four groups of eight.  Each team will play every team in the their bracket and then the top four from each bracket move onto the Festival for Hope Cup and the bottom four from each bracket move on to the Alexandra Cup.  We were pretty certain going into day one that the Cambodian team would be competing in the Alexandra Cup; they just can't compete against the size and experience of the African and South American teams.

Opening day began with excitement at the team village as 32 teams, kitted out in their new, specially designed adidas team uniforms and warm up suits, loaded up on cereal and eggs for the big day.  The teams were bussed to Alexandra Township, the site of the Football for Hope brand new stadium, which seats 2500.  Alexandra Township is one of the poorest townships in South Africa and is rife with HIV/Aids. 

As the teams unloaded from the buses, about a mile from the stadium, they were met wtih drummers, singers, dancers and hundreds of curious township residents.  The Cambodian team was overwhelmed by the scene while disembarking from the bus, but they quickly got into the action by joining the masses of kids clapping and dancing with the the local dance troupe.  The teams marched to the stadium, carrying team signs and country flags, while spectators lined the streets clapping, blowing vuvuzelas and giving high fives.  The excitement in the air was electric and it was as if the World Cup teams had just arrived.

Each team marched into the packed stadium as their name was called, waving to the adoring fans, with the proceedings being shown on the jumbotron simultaneously.  FIFA President Sepp Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma were in attendance and both dignitaries welcomed the teams with uplifting speeches about the power of soccer for social good.  The opening ceremonies also included dancers and soccer jugglers/break dancers.  The experience of being treated like international soccer stars is something all of the teams will never forget.  The Cambodian team was excited, proud and thrilled to be part of the ceremony.  Their beaming faces made all the challenges to get them to South Africa melt away.

The facilities include the main field with stands on three sides and the jumbotron on the fourth, a smaller field, pitch 2, several courts, a skate park and an interactive area for soccer games.  The Cambodian team had their first game on pitch 2 later in the afternoon against Team Brazil.  All games are played under the "FIFA Fair Play" guidelines whereby there are no referees, players call all fouls and teams determine rules in a group discussion with the other team prior to each game. 

Team Brazil, need we say more?  The smallest Brazilian player, girl or boy, was a good head above the tallest Cambodian player (See example picture to the Left).  Let's not forget that soccer and Brazil go hand in hand like rice and beans or fish and chips or burgers and fries.  They are born with the ability to play soccer and can probably dribble a ball before they can even walk.  Despite being intimidated by the Brazilians, the Cambodian team was excited to play the first game and relieved it was on the smaller pitch 2, without the 2500 screaming and vuvuzela booming fans.  To get pysched up for the game, the captain,Sengvy, gave each player a handful of Cambodian soil he carried from his village.  They rubbed the dirt in their hands and hair while chanting "Kampuchea".

Team Cambodia held their own against a tough Brazilian team and lost 2-0 in  game which could have been 2-1.  Both teams were the epitome of Fair Play, and they hugged and laughed while leaving the pitch.  We ended the incredible day with pride and are excited for the rest of the tournament!

A Day in the Life

Managing 400 plus people requires a great deal of organization and flexibility.  Throw in over a dozen languages, multiple cultures, a wide age range and you have chaos in the making.  The Festival For Hope team is a well-oiled machine who has thought of just about everything and if they haven't, they are ready to make necessary changes to ensure problems and issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

The 32 delegations (eight players and three to four adults) are divided into four groups for all activities and two groups eat meals together, an early shift and a late shift.  The first week of the Festival is comprised of workshops, clinics, field trips and cultural exchanges.  The day begins early in the residence halls with excited jet-lagged teenagers laughing, chattering and running around the hallways to the dismay of us older folk.  It was beginning so early that a rule had to be instituted that players had to stay in their rooms until 7:00 AM.  The residence hall is divided up by sex on each floor and each room has four people crammed together in a ten by fifteen space with two bunkbeds and a cupboard for two people to share.  It is about half the size of my college dorm room with twice as many people.  Thankfully, tight quarters are nothing new to the Cambodians and our four girls and four boys each share a room.

Meals are taken in a dining hall where noise levels at times can reach dangerous levels.  The kitchen crew has the unenviable task of trying to please the palates of the world.  Not enough rice say the Asians, not enough starchy food say the Africans, too much meat say the Indians and more Kosher food say the Israelis.  If these delegations can be satisfied, world peace may be possible.

After breakfast, groups are broken into their activities groups which rotate between a Johannesburg tour, an Alexandra Township tour, an HIV/Aids interactive workshop and a soccer clinic.  The coaches and delegation leaders also have activities to increase networking with other organizations and share ideas and information.  Each group has a dedicated volunteer to help navigate the daily schedule and answer questions.  Volunteers have come from around the world to specifically work at this event and most groups have volunteers who speak their team's language.  Unfortunately, the Cambodian delegation does not have a Khmer speaker, but foturnately our American volunteer, Amanda, loves the team and has been a big help.

In between meals and activities, players vie for space on seven computers, play foosball, pool, pingpong, playstation and just hang out.  There is programming well into the evenings, be it watching World Cup matches, cultural performances by each team or attending World Cup matches.

Thus far, the Cambodian team has toured former apartheid prisons of Johannesburg, which they likened to the Khmer Rouge, seen the South African Capitol Building, been on the pitch of the Pretoria Stadium, seen the Spain v. Paraguay match @ Ellis Park (where SA won the Rugby World Cup) and visited a lion and rhino park.  Not too shabby for a group of kids from rural Cambodia.  Despite the cold and lack of Cambodian fish and rice, they are loving the experience and thriving in the new environment.

Traveling with 200 to 400 people is a game of hurry up and wait.  Get to the buses, wait for everyone else to get to the buses, wait on the buses, finally leave on the buses.  However, the delegations have a police escort for each excursion, so once we are on the road, we are cooking.  At least three speedy police VW's accompany each of the World Cup buses, usually one in the front, one in the back and one on the side boxing out interferring cars, with sirens blaring.  When there are multiple buses involved, you can imagine it is quite an impressive motorcade.  Pedestrians wave as we speed past assuming we are a World Cup team zipping off to a practice or a game.  Well, we are....kinda.

After another long, eventful day in South Africa, we are exhausted and ready for bed!

Talk About a Melting Pot

Teams trickled in all day on Monday from every corner of the planet – 32 teams representing 50 countries and nearly as many languages. Each team works with disadvantaged youth using soccer for social development. These organizations tackle a host of pressing issues in societies around the world, including HIV/AIDS, gang violence, teenage pregnancy, poverty, conflict resolutiong, hunger, the plight of refugees and homelessness among others.

They came in all shapes, sizes and colors. Africa, for obvious reasons, is heavily represented at the Festival with teams from South Africa, Zambia, Lesotho, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Mali and Nigeria. South America has the next strongest contingency with Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Columbia in attendance.

Arguably the most interesting delegation is the team representing Palestine and Israel – the Peres Center for Peace. This group uses sport to bring Palestinian and Israeli kids together while promoting peace and tolerance in both countries. What amazing and challenging work they are doing!

As each group arrived at the Village, typically kitted out in team warm-ups, they were assessed by the teams already in attendance. The Cambodian team gazed out the window of the game room with a bird’s eye view and instantly commented on the size of each arriving team. They soon learned that Africans, South Americans, Europeans and Americans are big, or tom tom, as they say in Khmer. Just as the team was beginning to panic, the Indian delegation arrived and they are possibly even smaller than the Cambodians. Thank you Asia and the rice diet!

The Team Village had reached a fever pitch by dinner on Monday night. Teams eat together, after lining up, in a dining hall.  All of the teams had arrived and it was complete mayhem. Excited chatter in countless languages was uttered around the campus and everyone was checking out everyone else. While teams were a bit shy, they were slowly warming up to each other and meeting over the game room activities. The African teams were the most fun, as most of them chanted, sang and entertained the other groups.

The Cambodian team was in awe of the other groups and grew increasingly more timid as more teams arrived. They finally fully realized Khmer, the Cambodian language, is not universal nor is it an important language in the world like English, French or Spanish.  After sitting through the opening ceremony, completed wholly in English, the Cambodian team seemed a bit dejected and confused. We quickly came up with a plan to help them interact with other teams. We instituted a contest in which they have to learn hello in as many different languages as possible with a prize to the person who learns the most. Instantly, the team set off on the new mission and with difficulty, they began learning hello in a dozen languages. Barriers were being broken down one hello at a time.