Game Room Rock Stars

The Cambodian team was the first team to arrive at the Football for Hope Team Village. All 32 teams competing in the festival are staying in a school complex which has dormitories, a dining hall, numerous fields and a main hall; it is like a mini-college campus, minus the beer and frat parties, surrounded with barbed wire, security guards and police patrol in central Johannesburg. The Football for Hope Festival team was on-hand to welcome us with open arms, big smiles and giant gear bags of adidas swag. Apparently, the Cambodian team has become both famous and infamous with the Festival organizers due to our many logistical issues and from following this blog.


As the team bowed and thanked every single person they met, without making a peep, they were instantly dubbed the most polite team, but possibly the shyest. The organizers were as concerned as we were about how the team would deal with the frigid temperatures, the food, the language barrier and the culture shock. After checking into our rooms and getting the campus tour, the team hit the game room. There are three game rooms at the Team Village and the Cambodian’s took over the nearest one, which is equipped with a foosball table, a pool table, computers, a TV and 20 soccer ball bean bag chairs – kid heaven!

Cambodians are good at pool and our team is no exception. Although the team had never seen foosball before, they took to the game like a fish to water. Within minutes, the group had split into two and was taking on the volunteers and security guards in both games as no other teams were around. There were many heavily accented, “Hello, I come from Cambodia. My name is _________.” We had practiced this phrase endlessly over the past seven months and this was pretty much all they had learned in our English lessons. This effort, their smiles and their ability in the game room won over the volunteers and security guards from the get go.

During the first breakfast in the dining hall, the organizing team and the kitchen staff, who had all been briefed on our team’s finicky eating habits, came over to make sure the team was able to eat the muesli and yogurt provided. The team was so polite and filled with smiles that they endeared themselves to the event and kitchen staff. Nice to get a little special treatment and it certainly didn’t hurt being the only delegation at the Team Village the entire first day.

Coach Heang and coach Kamsort joined forces with our new Kenyan friend, Henry, in the team’s first training session in South Africa. Henry is the delegation leader from the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) in Nairobi. Mathare is one of the largest slums in the world and has almost one million residents. MYSA has been running soccer leagues for 24 years and is a world famous organization. Henry is a product of the program and is now one of its most respected employees. As Henry’s team hadn’t arrived yet, he offered his wealth of coaching experience to our team. Henry is about 6’3” and very dark skinned. The team was intimidated by Henry due to his size and color. After an hour and a half under Henry’s wing, the team was just beginning to feel comfortable around people of African descent.

The practice was hard due to the 24 plus hours of travel, elevation, cold weather and the time difference. The team couldn’t believe they didn’t break a sweat during the training and prior to the start of the session, we had to send them upstairs to put on more clothes. It was about 65 degrees, just like a crisp, sunny Fall day.

While returning from practice, a group of forty odd African volunteers were making their way toward the Cambodian team. The team stepped back in fear at such a large group of dark-skinned people until the group started singing and dancing African style. The team was transfixed by the captivating music and the joy emanating from the volunteers. Before you knew it, the Cambodians were clapping their hands to the beat. This first taste of African dance and music helped the team break down more of their cultural barriers and it was good for the normally reticent Asians to loosen up around the lively Africans.

As teams began trickling in the second day, the Cambodian team kept position in the game room, meeting the other teams through the language of games and laughter. Although they couldn’t verbally communicate with the new arrivals, the Cambodians welcomed each new group with games of pool and foosball. Since they were the old hands at the Team Village, they had the run of the tables all day.


It has been a great start of the Football for Hope Festival and the Cambodian team is charming all who they come across. Stay tuned for more updates.

Up, up and away

Friday the 25th, the day before departing for the long journey to South Africa, began @ 6:45 am with the team, the coaches and the Regional Ministry of Education Director arriving at our house one and a half hours early to go to the doctor's office for the final vaccinations (Rabies #3 and Polio).  Where else in the world does a culture arrive early and with absolutely no notice of the early arrival?  Needless to say, it was going to be a long day and an even longer journey to Johannesburg. 

The day before departure was action packed - final packing, vaccinations,  a visit to the National Museum and Palace, lunch with the Cambodian Football Federation, traditional Khmai flower ceremony with "His Excellency" the Minister of Education (and six other "Excellencies") and dinner with the parents who were arriving in Phnom Penh in the afternoon.  The ceremony with His Excellency lasted almost three hours and included many speeches, meat pies, flowers and countless bowing.  Cambodians love a good ceremony and a chance to give a long-winded speech.

The team, outfitted in their new adidas tracksuits and first pair of closed-toe shoes ever, got to the airport three hours early for the flight to ensure all eleven people and 22 bags got checked through from Phnom Penh to Kuala Lumpur to Johannesburg.  The parents, who had come down to Phnom Penh to see the team off, traveled to the airport in the back of a Hilux pick- up, fourteen people crammed together Cambo-style.  Good thing Cambodians, even adults, are small! 

Tragedy was narrowly averted as the Malaysia Airline Agents initially refused to check-in the team without the South African Visas.  Luckily, the Malaysia Airlines Manager arrived, grabbed the Accreditation Letters and escorted the team through check-in.  Even with the special treatement, it still took 2.5 hours to make it through check-in.

The first of many technological obstacles occurred in the Phnom Penh Airport.  (Sidenote:  during the many months of training, we emphasized the importance of hand washing after using the bathroom.)  Heang (team coach) came to me with an apparent 'bathroom crisis'.   Heang asked me to assist him in the bathroom ASAP.  Turns out the boys were all standing around the Men's bathroom sink perplexed, soapy hands out because they could not figure out how the sinks worked.  It was a motion-censored faucet.  I reached down and passed my hand across the sensor.....water...Gestalt!  The second mini-obstacle occurred when the team needed assistance on how to use the water fountain.

The flight to Kuala Lumpur was quite an experience for the first time flyers.  Each movement of the plane led to excited "oohs", "ahs" and "eeks" and squeals of delight.  The team loved the Malaysian food and thought the seats were big and comfortable.  Again, good thing Cambodians are petit.

The Kuala Lumpur airport is a beautiful, modern airport with lots of moving sidewalks and escalators and filled with expensive  stores like Harrod's, Louis Vitton and Hugo Boss.  It was other-worldly for a bunch of kids from rural Cambodia.  The team spent the ten hour layover truly getting to know the KL airport; they visited the airport rainforest, rode every inch of the escalators and moving sidewalks, ran up and down the staircases, cruised the duty-free shops, watched World Cup matches on TV while lounging on giant cushy coaches, slept in huddles and gazed in wonderment at the mases of beautiful people.

Finally, at 1:00 AM, it was time to board the ten hour flight to Johannesburg.  It was hard to believe we were almost in South Africa after over seven months of preparation.  The team loved being plied with food and drink, but ten hours on a plane is agonizing for a teenager, especially ones who can't really watch the movies in English.  Luckily, most of the team slept at least half of the flight.

Since the team is considered an official delegation of the World Cup, we were able to pass through a special customs line for those with WC Accreditation.  It was smooth and easy.  The Football for Hope team, George and Luciano, were patiently waiting to meet us inside the baggage claim area.  We made it!  South Africa greeted the team with smiles and arctic breezes.  The bleary-eyed Cambodians huddled together to stay warm while waiting for the team van.  The first question asked while traveling on the highway to the Team Village was, "Why aren't there any motorcycles on the road?"

It is going to be an incredible two weeks for the team.  We'll send updates every few days on their progress.  For now, they will play - rest - play - rest - play - rest ......

Final Preparations

It is just days before the Cambodian Football for Hope team boards the plane for South Africa.  The final preparations have been fast and furious. 

First and foremost is ensuring all things transportation related are ready, set, go.  This included a trip to Malaysia Airlines to confirm tickets and discuss "Accreditation Letters" in lieu of Visas.  Tickets confirmed, seats assigned, no problem.  Substituting Accreditation Letters for Visas, a bit more difficult.  As the Football for Hope Festival is an official event of the World Cup, all delegations are given Accreditation Letters, just like the World Cup teams, which allow the delegates to enter the country without a Visa and bypass 'normal' passport control.  Airlines don't typically allow passengers on board a flight without checking if the individual has a proper visa to enter the destination country because the airline is responible for returning the passenger to the place of departure if they are denied entry into the country. 

Cambodians cannot enter South Africa without a Visa, which must be obtained in advance.  We were concerned the airline wouldn't allow the team to board the flight with only our Accrediation Letters from FIFA and no Visas in the teams' passports.  After all the hassles during the reservation and purchasing of the tickets, we thought we were in for a battle over this one.  However, after a quick explanation to the ticketing agent and a phone conversation with the Malaysia Air Country Manager at the airport, we were in business.  The Manager is going to walk the team through the ticketing process and through customs, which is a big relief.  There has been concern the custom agents are not going to allow eight Cambodian minors out of the country with two Cambodian adults and one foreigner despite the permission letters from the parents and the Ministry of Education.  Trafficking is a huge problem in Cambodia, as previously mentioned, and anything can happen at the airport when traveling with Cambodian minors sans parents.

The Final Training weekend was filled with, well, final preparations.  One weekend highlight was making scrapbooks.  We printed out hundreds of photos from the six months of training and gave each team member scrap books, glue, stickers and markers and let them go to town.  One interesting observation was the girls looked through stacks of photos, picked out the ones they wanted, put them in a pile and went to work.  The boys, on the other hand, found a photo they liked, typically of themselves, glued it in the their book and then looked around for another picture they could use.  The team had a blast reliving the past six months with the photos while they creatively put together their own story.

Other prepartions:  packing lists, travel logistics, World Cup update, cultural norms, shoe shopping and grocery shopping. We wanted the team to be aware of the way things are done in different countries and to know that what may be considered okay in Cambodia, may not be considered polite in other countries. This list included chewing with your mouth open making loud noises, as is common in Cambodia, spitting in public, and squatting on top of sit down toilet seats, rather than sitting down.

At the top of the packing list was SHOES, and we soon learned the team members don't own closed-toe shoes, only flip flops and other sandals.  Off we went to the local sports store and what a sight it was with eight teenagers excitedly rifling through the entire inventory. Shoes were everywhere!  Surprisingly, it took the boys at least twice as long as the girls to pick out their shoes.  Fashion is so important to these rural village kids, which continues to amaze us.

The weekend included another introduction to western food and this time we went Italian. Spaghetti was fairly well received, especially when copious amounts of ketchup was added.   The team learned forks, not spoons as used in Cambodia, are the utensil of choice in most countries.  The weekend was rounded out with the purchase of Battambang rice - Cambodians can actually the tell the difference in rice from different parts of country - ramen noodles and dried beef.  We have one dedicated food bag, complete with rice maker, to ensure the team eats while in South Africa.  As previously mentioned, Cambodians do not like food from outside the country and are known to basically go on a hunger strike while traveling.

Next up, making sure the team has all their gear.  During the final training weekend, we loaded the team up with travel gear, but the piece that puts it all together, the travel bags, had not yet arrived from the US, yet another donation from old friends at adidas. (Thanks Laura, Britt, Casey and Rocky!)  The bags needed to get from Phnom Penh to Battambang, four hours away.  There isn't UPS or Fed Ex to get these bags around Cambodia, so we had to settle for putting them on the bus and trust they would get to the Spirit of Soccer Battambang office upon arrival.  With two packages filled with travel bags and packed with duct tape,  in hopes of ensuring against theft, we took the boxes to the bus station.  Cambodians travel with an incredible amount of 'stuff', which can be anything from produce to electronic items to live animals, and the packaging comes in all shapes and sizes.  Our one dilapidated box and one giant 'Asian' bag fit in perfectly.  With the payment of 16,000 riel, almost $4, and several safety assurances, we waved goodbye to the packages, hoping they have a nice journey and actually make it to Battambang.  They did.

The bags are almost packed and we're about the leave on a jet plane, but we will be back again.  Next update will be from South Africa.  Wish us a bon voyage!

Goodbye Tropics, hello winter

This past weekend was the final training for the Football for Hope Festival.  It's hard to believe it is almost time to go to South Africa after six plus months of preparation!

One ongoing concern is the weather in South Africa.  The World Cup is in June and July and World Cup attendees typically can root for their favorite team in shorts and team jerseys.  Not so in South Africa as it is winter in the southern hemisphere.  Yesterday, the high in Johannesburg, elevation 5,751 feet, was 66 and the low was 44.  If you've seen any World Cup matches, you'll have seen the fans bundled up in scarves, hats and jackets.   It is hard to imagine that cold weather exists while living in sweltering Cambodia and it's even harder to find cold weather appropriate garb. 

We've been trying to explain to the team and coaches how cold it will be and tried to find analogies to give them some idea of what to expect.  "It's as cold as the inside of your refrigerator" - Oh, wait, the team lives in villages without electricity and don't have fridges.  It's colder than you can imagine - okay, the coldest they've ever experienced is about 70 degrees once or twice at night.  We've given up on descriptions and are just focusing on finding gear to keep them warm.

Imagine shopping when it is 90 plus degrees outside and five to ten degrees warmer inside the market.  Navigating the maze known as the "Russian Market" in search of winter clothes can be considered hazardous to your health.  Sweat dripping, sideswiping the ever present book and postcard vendors and maneuvering through the stalls of bootleg cd's, silk scarves and Cambodian trinkets, we haggled over the prices of hoodies, scarves and turtlenecks, uncertain how the team would feel about our fashion choices.

Upon leaving the market, arms laden with bags and looking like your typical hot, sweaty tourist, we looked like paydirt for the tuk tuk and moto taxi drivers.  They chuckled after hearing our "mian lan howie" (have car already) and left us to load up the land cruiser and head to the Japanese Thrift Store. 

The Japanese Thrift Store has been an exciting addition to the shopping scene in Phnom Penh and is THE destination for costume parties.  Think Goodwill in a sauna.  Certainly not our ideal destination to shop for wool sweaters and winter coats, but it is the only spot that could have what we need in Cambodia for the right price.  Although indoors and out of the burning sun, it seemed hotter than outside in the direct sunlight.  We searched rack after rack of jackets and sweaters feeling and looking as if we were at mile ten in a marathon.  Where was the water station and orange slices when you need it?  We hit the jackpot with five winter coats, very cute thanks to the Japanese fashion mavens, six scarves and eight wool sweaters all for the crippling price of $11!!

While the gear pile was mounting, we were still concerned the tiny, thin Cambodians would not be ready to face both the elevation and the cold weather.  We needed long underwear to round out the ensemble, but it is not a hot ticket item in Cambodia.  As we were traveling to Bangkok for medical check-ups (sidenote:  the state of medical facilities in Cambodia is not good, so most foreigners go to Bangkok for check-ups and other medical needs), we decided to dedicate part of the trip to searching for long underwear.  After some research on the subject, we hit several markets in search of the elusive southeast  Asian long underwear.  We spotted and bagged the long underwear at the Pratunam Center, one of Bangkok's old school markets, somewhat grungy and very different from Bangkok's new uber-modern shopping malls.  While out shopping, we saw some of the effects of the two month-long protests, including the burned down Central World Mall.  It was a pretty shocking sight to see and a big F.U. to capitalism and the elite. 

During the final weekend training session, it was Christmas in Cambodia.  The team members were given their new tracksuits and turf shoes, donated by friends at adidas America.  This is the first time the team members have ever had legitmate soccer shoes and soccer clothing; the rest of the time it is bootleg product from the local market.  The team also tried on the various and sundry warm weather items to much hilarity and sweating.  The girls especially liked the trendy Japanese winter coats, despite almost having heat stroke while trying them on.  The Cambodian delegation may be the best dressed team in South Africa thanks to the Russian Market, the Japanese Thrift Store and our friends at adidas America.