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.