By Simon Hare | Development Director, Globalteer
It’s currently winter in Cambodia – which means the weather is dry and rather cooler than the rest of the year – think high 20s centigrade rather than high 30s and you’ll get the picture! This makes it the perfect time for all kinds of outdoor sports so there is plenty going on at the Globalteer sports project.
Girls take over the Globalteer soccer league.
The soccer league is in full swing and as we reported before Christmas, this season the whole league is being run by the young participants in our Goals for Goals female empowerment initiative. This new initiative is helping girls and young women to grow in confidence, develop leadership skills and take a more active role in the development of their families and communities by realising their full personal potential. Women and girls have always tended to be seen as second class citizens in Cambodia – but bit by bit we are helping to change all that by working with girls and boys to challenge gender stereotyping through sport.
Last July our Goals for Girls crew successfully ran the 2015 Globalteer Games – a massive community event where more than 1,000 children enjoyed a day of friendly sporting competition in Siem Reap. The girls came up with new ideas for games and stage-managed the entire day, with just a little support from the Globalteer team...
Sweltering Sunday soccer.
In December I was lucky enough to visit Siem Reap and spend a morning spectating at the Globalteer Sunday soccer league. I was blown away by the enthusiasm and skill of hundreds of young soccer players, but also by their huge sense of fun and amazing professionalism both on and off the pitch. Even in the “cooler” winter weather it was sweltering in the sun but the players kept their focus and their cool. No football prima donnas in sight, no diving, no cynical fouling, just great football played with energy and wonderful team spirit.
And running the show, were the Globalteer girls. It was equally impressive and humbling not only to watch the girls running a very slick operation – it has to be slick when you are trying to squeeze dozens of games onto three pitches in a very limited period of time – but also to see the teams of both girls and boys respecting the young women officiating the fast-paced games. We are delighted that the girls have risen to this challenge so ably, and proud that on the Globalteer soccer pitch gender equality is definitely the name of the game.
Its not just the winning...
From a development and social impact perspective it’s almost as if the scores are irrelevant which is why points are awarded for less traditional aspects of performance such as teamwork and professionalism. But of course it’s still a competitive game. And every team wants to be top of the table at the climax of the league in April…
We have exciting things planned for the coming year, all of which is only made possible with your support. Thank you for reading, thank you for supporting us and if you like what we do please share this report with your friends.
By Simon Hare | Development Director, Globalteer, parent charity
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