March 8 Tournament

On Tuesday March 6, our newest team member arrived from Australia for a one year stint. Two days later we had a public holiday for Women's Rights Day. As usual, this meant... a football tournament! Simon was up at 6am to help one of our staff members set up and prepare the fields. He kicked a ball around with some kids before the friendly games and even took a turn being referee for a game. I asked him how it was? He replied that it was difficult to ref without any local language, relying only on a whistle and hand signals. I thought about the challenge to communicate clearly through sport, even when we know the language. Sometimes the best we can hope for are gestures.

The football tournament was for Boys Under 11s and Girls Under 15s. The teams signed up before March 8 and almost all of the boys said they were 11 years old. However, on the day of play, Heng estimated that only 20% of the boys were 11 years and the rest were 12-15 years old! (Err..Is anyone listening? Nah- they just want to play!)

Heng spent hours preparing a schedule for the friendly matches. We were early but some of the teams were late! Were we flexible? Yes! But once again, we felt like silent refs waving in the air while a rowdy bunch of kids ruled the field!

There were 120 players who signed up so we bought enough snacks to share... except that around 20-30 extras showed up on the day. We shared the snacks as best we could and there were no complaints- but certainly no leftovers!

I was pleased that six out of the fourteen teams to sign up were girls teams. I see this as more than a gesture. Instead, I hope this shows a growing interest in girls' football in Poipet! (It has been a challenge to encourage girls to get involved.)

We saw girls playing against boys and boys cheering when girls scored a goal. I saw kids with smart uniforms and other teams without shoes. We saw new referees who stood not much taller than the players have a go at controlling the short, friendly match.

I'm not sure if there are clear messages here, but there are some cool gestures emerging.