A little help from Hope School

It's relatively easy to continue with program activities that we've done many times before. We roll from Youth Football to Adults Football with only a few weeks in between. We schedule weekly staff meetings, fortnightly visits to the Drug Detention Centre and monthly appointments at the MMF school to give out prizes for the best students and those who 'try hard'. No problem. However, It's more strenuous to start new activities. That's why it's good to have help!


Recently, a team of 10 volleyball players from Hope International School in Phnom Penh came for 4 days to initiate our girls volleyball program. In one afternoon, the Hope School team visited a government school for a friendly match and then ran a coaching session for brand new players at the MMF school. On the Saturday, they were one of four teams that signed up for a half-day friendly tournament. They also bought 10 volleyballs and left these with us as we start training teams for the next Girls Under 15s tournament. One of their coaches explained that there was enough budget for either T-shirts for the team members or volleyballs to give away. The 11-14 year old girls decided to forgo the T-shirts and donate sports equipment to allow others locals in Poipet to learn volleyball instead. (Impressive generosity!!)


I love opening a new sports tournament and seeing players test out their skills against other teams. This year, for example, I've enjoyed seeing the Under 11s Boys playing football. The next couple of weeks will be a push to get information out about the volleyball, create registration forms, schedule games, find volunteer referees and decide on what kind of prizes to give (all considering I know next to nothing about volleyball!). I'm thankful that Hope School has already been up to visit Poipet and help begin this new program.