Cambodia women's national football team

Cambodia
Association Football Federation of Cambodia
Confederation AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation AFF (Southeast Asia)
Head coach Sam Schweingruber
FIFA code CAM
First international
May 2009 (under-16)

The Cambodia women's national football team represents Cambodia in international women's association football and is governed by Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC). As of June 2012, no senior women's national team exists though national youth sides, including an under-13, under-14 and under-16 sides, do. While the national federation was founded in 1954 and has received support from Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the development of women's football has been slow with football not the most popular women's sport in the country. The women's first national championship was not held until 2010.

The under-16 national team, coached by Sam Schweingruber, played in the nation's first FIFA recognised women's international in May 2009 when they played Laos, with Nith Pean being the first woman to score a goal in international play. The under-14 team is also coached by Schweingruber, and participated in the 2011 AFC U-14 Girls' Festival of Football in Vietnam. The following year, the under-13 team competed in the 2012 AFC Girls Football Festival.

Background and development

The national association was founded in 1933 and became a FIFA affiliate in 1954.[1][2] The national federation is a member of ASEAN.[3] There are no full-time staff members employed by the federation to look after women's football and representation of women's football as a federation interest is not guaranteed by the federation.[1]

AFC's AID27 programme provides Cambodia a maximum of US$24,000 a year between 2008 and 2012 to support women's football in the country.[4][5] FIFA-supported grassroots development of the women's game also exists. FIFA grass roots development officer Sam Schweingruber said of this: "In Cambodia, it was unthinkable at the outset for girls to take part in the Grassroots programme. We managed to push that through, and now it's seen as perfectly normal. And that is bound to help in boosting the confidence of young Cambodian women, and making them feel more important."[6]

Football for women ranks between the 5th and 10th most popular sport in the country,[1] though its popularity is increasing.[7] Space to play sport is an issue facing all sports in the country.[8] Between 2000 and 2006, there were no registered female football players in the country, and none of the 65 football clubs in the country were open to women.[1]

In 2007, there were only two Cambodian women, Gne Kom' Sorth and Lee Heang, who had a FIFA-approved D-license football coaching badge. Both were recruited through FIFA's Spirit of Soccer program and worked to bring the game to areas with land mines.[9] In 2008, the Mine Risk Education Soccer tournament was held and several girls under-14 teams participated.[10] The first women's national championship was held in 2010.[11] Rights to broadcast the 2011 Women's World Cup in the country were bought by the Cambodian Broadcasting Service.[12] By 2012, between Battambang or Phnom Penh, there were 400 girls playing in organised clubs.[13]

The progress of women's football in the country was described by FIFA in 2009 as historic.[14] In 2009, the Com-Unity Women's Football Seminar was held Phnom Penh.[7] At the three-day seminar, the Football Federation of Cambodia indicated their support for women's football.[7] A follow-up event was supported by FIFA in 2010.[15]

Chheun Nipha from Cambodia participated in a 2012 AFC 'C' Coaching Certificate Course organised as part of the AFC U-13 Girls' Football Tournament 2012.[16][17][18] In 2012, the women's team participated in the Charity Cup, a competition designed to help with fundraising to send a team to compete at the Homeless World Cup.[19] In May 2012, an under-15 women's football festival was held in Cambodia, organised by the German embassy and German Business Group Cambodia, and held at the University of Battambang. The competition was won by the Mighty Girls in a 2-0 win over CFI.[20]

Team

In 1985, almost no country in the world had a women's national football team,[21] including Cambodia who have yet to play their first FIFA recognised match as of June 2012.[22] As of 2015, the women's national team has not competed at the Women's World Cup.[23] In 2005, the country was one of seven teams that were expected to field a women's football team to compete at the Asian Games in Marikina in December.[24] In 2006, a women's national team did not officially exist.[1] In March 2012, the team was not ranked in the world by FIFA.[25] The country's kit colours are blue, white and red shirts, white shorts, and red socks.[2]

Youth national teams

Under-13

The Cambodia women's national under-13 football team competed in the June 2012 AFC Girls Football Festival against other national sides from Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Guam and Vietnam.[13][26][27] The team played their first match against the Philippines.[28] Cambodia lost to Vietnam 0-1 in the bronze medal game.[29][30] Julie Teo, AFC's Head of Women's Football said of the event: "The quality of teams is good and the tournament has a lot of close matches. Cambodia had improved a lot from the first day."[30] Srey Yuen was the captain in 2012.[31] Many of the players in 2012 were drawn from the CFI club side.[31] The team is coached by Sam Schweingruber.[13]

Sopha Kol, secretary general of FFC, said: "For the very first time, very young Cambodian girls represented Cambodia in a regional tournament like this one. ... It doesn't matter if they win or lose as long as they start. If they don't start now, their potential will be ignored."[32] AFC U-13 Girl Football Tournament 2012, each game had two sessions with 25 minutes each and 10 minutes' break while the football field is 80 metres long and 60 metres wide.[33]

Under-14

Kauw was a member of the Cambodia women's national under-14 football team in 2011.[31] The assistant coach was Chhoeurn Nipha and the head coach was Sam Schweingruber.[11][34] The team had a variety of players, including those who attended a football academy, school drop outs who returned just to play and girls from orphanages.[11] The country participated in the AFC U-14 Girls' Festival of Football in Vietnam, where like the other ten participating countries, they fielded two teams.[35][36] This was the first time the country participated in the event.[34][36] At the competition, Cambodia lost to the Philippines 3-0.[37] Some of the players who participated had never left the country before.[11]

Under-16

The Cambodia women's national under-16 football team has been coached by Sam Schweingruber since it was created in 2009.[38] The team played in their first FIFA recognised and sponsored international in spring of 2009 when they played Laos[11][38] on 22 May.[39] The team travelled 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) to the game via bus.[39] Nith Pean scored a goal when her team was down 2-0 to bring the score to 2-1. Her goal was the first ever goal scored by a Cambodian woman in a FIFA recognised match.[39] That year, the team also played a match against Singapore.[11] Two players on the 2009 under-16 team were Nin and Vesna, a pair of sisters from the SALT Academy. The sisters had been sexually exploited in Thailand but while at the Academy, they developed their skills. Nin eventually became the captain of the team.[38]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 FIFA (2006). "Women's Football Today" (PDF): 41. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 Pickering, David (1994). The Cassell soccer companion: history, facts, anecdotes. London: Cassell. p. 55. ISBN 0304342319. OCLC 59851970.
  3. ↑ Weinberg, Ben (2012). "'The Future is Asia'? The Role of the Asian Football Confederation in the Governance and Development of Football in Asia". International Journal of the History of Sport. 29 (4): 535–552 [542]. doi:10.1080/09523367.2012.658216. ISSN 0952-3367. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  4. ↑ Weinberg, Ben (2012). "'The Future is Asia'? The Role of the Asian Football Confederation in the Governance and Development of Football in Asia". International Journal of the History of Sport. 29 (4): 535–552 [547]. doi:10.1080/09523367.2012.658216. ISSN 0952-3367. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Campaign against hunger sets foothold". Asian Football Confederation. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "FIFA 'Grassroots' aims to expand football pyramid base". Boxscorenews.com. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 "Cambodia welcomes the world of women's football". FIFA.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "Ka-set - Information website about Cambodia - Cambodia itching to work out: sport is gaining ground in the country". Cambodia.ka-set.info. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  9. ↑ "Raising spirits in Cambodia". FIFA.com. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  10. ↑ "Mine risks outlined in Cambodia". FIFA.com. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Cambodian girls conquer 'enormous Goliath'". Asian Football Confederation. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2011TM Media Rights Licensees" (PDF). FIFA. 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 "U13 girls prepare for football festival in Vietnam | Sport". The Phnom Penh Post. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  14. ↑ "Cambodia build for a bright future". FIFA.com. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  15. ↑ "Women's round-up: January 2010". FIFA.com. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  16. ↑ "New coaches expand horizon". Asian Football Confederation. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  17. ↑ "Girls' referees get update". Asian Football Confederation. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  18. ↑ "Coaches get the ball rolling". Asian Football Confederation. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  19. ↑ "Charity Cup to fund Homeless World Cup trip | Sport". The Phnom Penh Post. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  20. ↑ "Football festival unites girls | Sport". The Phnom Penh Post. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  21. ↑ Chrös McDougall (1 January 2012). Soccer. ABDO. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-61783-146-1. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  22. ↑ "Cambodia: Fixtures and Results". Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  23. ↑ Ballard, John; Suff, Paul (1999). The dictionary of football : the complete A-Z of international football from Ajax to Zinedine Zidane. London: Boxtree. pp. 108–109. ISBN 0752224344. OCLC 59442612.
  24. ↑ Tandoc Jr., Edson C. (13 April 2005). "Tourism boost for Marikina". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  25. ↑ "The FIFA Women's World Ranking". FIFA.com. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  26. ↑ Sports. "VietNamNet - Gia Lai defend futsal title | Gia Lai defend futsal title". English.vietnamnet.vn. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  27. ↑ "Girls mature after tournament". Asian Football Confederation. 18 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  28. ↑ "Girls chase the high dream". Asian Football Confederation. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  29. ↑ Sports (17 June 2012). "VietNamNet - SPORTS IN BRIEF 17/6 | SPORTS IN BRIEF 17/6". English.vietnamnet.vn. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  30. 1 2 "Thailand are ASEAN champions". Asian Football Confederation. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  31. 1 2 3 "Mighty Girls grab glory in U15 Football Festival finale | Sport". The Phnom Penh Post. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  32. ↑ Reaksmey. "បាល់ទាត់ស្ត្រីកម្ពុជាចេញទៅវៀតណាម". Raksmey Kampuchea Daily. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  33. ↑ "បាល់ទាត់ស្ត្រីកម្ពុជាចេញទៅវៀតណាម". Raksmey Kampuchea Daily. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  34. 1 2 "On your mark-get set-go!". Asian Football Confederation. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  35. ↑ "Girls' action begins in HCMC fest". Asian Football Confederation. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  36. 1 2 "Girls' Festival kicks off in HCMC". Asian Football Confederation. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  37. ↑ "DAILY STAR: Sports". Visayandailystar.com. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  38. 1 2 3 "Kicked off the streets". FIFA.com. 15 April 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  39. 1 2 3 "Women's game on the move in south-east Asia". FIFA.com. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
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