Empower 2,000 Cambodian Kids Through Sport

The sports project vision

The vision of Globalteer’s Sports Programme is a generation of young Cambodian people for whom sports – and all the health, lifestyle and life-skills benefits that go with them – are a natural and integral part of their lives.

Established in 2007 this programme is designed to bring sports to underprivileged children in the rural Siem Reap province, who otherwise have very limited access to them.

Sports help to improve children's fitness and physical condition, as well as teach important personal and interpersonal skills, like self-confidence, self-esteem, respect, teamwork, leadership, and discipline. Participation in sports helps to empower all children to access better future opportunities and dream bigger. Sports can also empower girls to make their own choices, take more active roles in society and control their own lives.

The Goals for Girls Project

The Goals for Girls initiative aims to educate high school girls about leadership by integrating sports into the program. In Cambodia, girls are typically excluded from participating in "sports" and relegated to the side-lines once they reach a certain age. Goals for Girls empowers young women to reclaim the sports field and discover the various roles they can play, both on the field and in broader society.

The sessions are taken by female coaches so instantly introducing role models to girls to look up to. The sessions focus on what leadership is and what kinds of leadership the girls see around them, as well as leadership roles they could fill now and in the future. The hope is to empower the girls to become future leaders with the confidence in themselves to achieve their dreams.

One great achievement for the girls on the Goals for Girls program, as well as the other girls at Helping Hands school was to provide them with sports bras to use during sessions. The bras were supplied by a Taiwanese Organization. This will allow the girls to feel more comfortable and confident during their sport sessions.

Student Profile: Bopha*, 11 years old

Bopha is eleven years old. Her friends say she has always been very smart and talented. She shines among her peers in doing sport and encourages her friends if they struggle during training with Coach Lytae.

She is certainly a good student who always listens to her coach and other teachers. She is very friendly and warmly welcomes every visitor to the school.

She says she feels great when she can be outside exercising, and playing football or any other games with her friends.

She confidently says she wants to be a teacher after graduating from school. She also wishes that all her friends will become more confident, and she will try to help them.

*Not her real name