Of an evening there will be many children running around playing on the village football or ‘soccer’ pitch (as I am instructed to call it). I did join in once but unfortunately took one kick of the ball and broke my toenail in half, which has been enough to put me off ever since. Anyway the other week we were challenged to take our football to the next level as we were invited to play in a tournament against a number of international schools in Phnom Penh. We took four teams, and for a lot of them it was the first time they had ever worn trainers, let alone played any sort of competitive sport so they were all very excited. We entered teams in the under 13 and the under 16 categories, and while the younger children looked vaguely the same age as their international counterparts, the same could not be said for the older children. Cambodian children in general are pretty small, and our children, having had various health challenges are generally even smaller than that so they were dwarfed by some of the other players. While the other three teams put up a valiant fight, and had a great time, it was our team of young boys who were the stars of the day. I was amazed at how good they were, and it bodes well that our children aren’t scared of pain as they were well and truly throwing themselves in. After some great play, the boys made it to the final, and were hugely excited about the prospect of winning the huge trophy they had seen on the display table. The final was very tense, with so many close goals but in the end it ended 0-0, even after extra time leaving no option but penalties. After a quick explanation of what penalties were (!), our goalkeeper stepped up and the shootout began. It was tense... both teams missed..... then both teams scored, then our boys pulled it out of the bag scoring all of their next penalties, and saving all the other teams. CHAMPIONS, and in my soppy state I might have even shed a tear. The trophy was ours, and to celebrate we all went for pizza, coke and ice cream while the children planned where to display our first ever trophy. All in all great day and really nice to see the children getting involved in something where it is not about them being orphans, or having HIV, but just being a group of children playing against other groups of children and having a great time.
The teams celebrating their win.
Utdom showing off his skills on the pitch... note the inappropriate advertising in the background!
Sokcheat and his opponent going for the ball.
Svat saving goals left right and centre in the penalty shootout in the final.
Celebrating in the Pizza Company afterwards- trying to master how to use a knife and fork!
No comments:
Post a Comment