Women in Sports Play on a Tough Field

Petanque is a game played between two teams of three players of which the aim is to get your teams ball closest to the 2.5 centimeter (one inch) jack ball with the first team to 13 points being the winner.

Cheng Lita, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 30 September 2010

“Women foreigners play a lot of sports. It's different from here, where very few women play sports because they are shy.”

Carefully aiming and throwing a shiny petanque ball on a Phnom Penh pitch, Douch Sapoeun and her fellow athletes prepare for an upcoming match abroad. The women have been invited to compete in Vietnam in September and the annual Asian petanque championships in Laos in December.

“We train and train,” Douch Sapoeun said in a recent interview.

Cambodian petanque throwers win, and win often. But the professional options for women in the sport are limited. So too are their numbers.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport estimates that of 259 competitive Cambodian athletes across 20 sports, only 54 are women. (In petanque, 11 of 22 athletes are women.) There are none in boxing, volley ball, football, badminton, cycling or archery.

That may be because many women think sports are mostly for men, said Vath Chamroeun, general secretary of the National Olympic Committee. “They think that playing sports provides no benefit,” he said. “Muscles appear in the long term, making them shy and stop playing more.”

However, some women excel in sports. Chov Sotheara, a wrestler, took bronze medals at the Southeast Asian Games in 2003 and 2005, followed by a gold in 2009.

She started judo when she was 14, and six years later turned to wrestling. She said women should be encouraged to take up sports.

“Women foreigners play a lot of sports,” she said. “It's different from here, where very few women play sports because they are shy.”

There are those who think not all sports are suitable for women. Take Ly Kimnay, for instance. She sells sugar cane juice outside Olympic Stadium. Sports like taekwondo, volleyball, football or anything requiring jumping should be off limits, she said. “But soft petanque is OK.”

Most Cambodian athletes only compete regionally. The National Olympic Committee says only three athletes have been chosen to compete abroad; one is a woman.

Nevertheless, women have a high success rate when they do compete, Vath Chamroeun said. In the 2009 SEA Games in Laos, for example, fewer women competed than men, “but a woman earned a gold medal, and a man didn't.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport encourages girls to play in school, said Lack Sam Ath, director of the ministry's sports department. “Especially by creating female football teams to play in school and have competitions.”

Women like Rath Chenda, an English student at Pannasastra University, say more participation could raise the quality of sports in Cambodia in general. But that can only happen when Cambodian families allow their daughters to play. Even then, there's no guarantee that they will play beyond school.

Sok Pheary, a classmate of Rath Chenda, said women should be involved in sports just as they are in neighboring countries.

Cambodia changes squad for Asian indoor games events

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 23, 2009 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will sent a delegation of 40 athletes and sports officials to the third Asian Indoor Games (AIG), to be held from Oct. 30 to Nov. 9 in Vietnam, local media reported on Friday.

Cambodian National Olympic Committe of Cambodia (NOCC) staff member and games coordinator for the Cambodian AIG contingent Touch Sopheak was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying that the Kingdom will send 10 more than originally planned thanks to the support of Vietnam, who provides logistic support for accommodation, transportation and catering.

"We will be competing in five events, namely Chinese chess, vovinam, aerobics, petangue and shuttle cock," said Touch Sopheak.

The games coordinator said that these five sports were the only ones whose federations had completed registration forms.

The committee had previously planned to compete in table tennis, badminton, wrestling, judo, futsal and indoor volleyball, but were forced to pull out, according to the Post.

"Some of the events we intended to enter are not included in the games," explained Vath Chamroeun, secretary general of the NOCC. "Besides, the AIG is not our top priority, so we are only sending high-performing athletes that are medal hopefuls."

Cambodia's best chance of medals comes in petanque and shuttle cock, a game similar to badminton but played with the feet. Sok Chamean won a gold medal in pentaque in men's singles at the 2007 SEA Games held in Thailand. He also combined with Ok Chimi to grab gold in men's doubles, while Ouk Sreymom and Ke Leng took silver in women's doubles. Chea Sreymeas is a bronze medalist in shuttle cock.

Cambodian shuttle cock team has already gone to Vietnam for training ahead of the games, while other delegates will depart via the Moc Bai order on October 28. They will split into two at the border, with one group travelling to Hanoi while the others heading to Ho Chi Minh City for their respective events.

Touch Sopheak is optimistic of a good show from athletes at the tournament. "We hope to do well in this competition," he said. "Our athletes have been training hard, so we are hoping to win in some of the events."

More young Cambodian athletes to compete internationally

PHNOM PENH, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Education and Sport is to request governmental permission to send more promising young athletes to join sport events abroad, reported English-Khmer language newspaper the Mekong Times Thursday.

Prum Ponyi, chairman of the University and Secondary School Sports Tournament Organizing Committee, was quoted by the papers that the youngsters can therefore gain wider experience, boost the kingdom's sporting reputation and improve international relations.

As included in the ministry's request, a number of students are to compete in the second ASEAN Primary School Games, to be held in November in Jakarta, Indonesia, and at the 14th ASEAN University Games, also in November in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he said.

Heng Davy, student at the Human Resource Development University and national volleyball player, said that she felt ready to play abroad after two years of hard training.

"I believe that I will have the chance to join tournaments in Asia to better my skills and gain experience," she said.

Ministry secretary of state Bun Sok said that similar delegations had been successful in the past.

"In December 2006, we sent six players representing three types of sports, namely athletics, table tennis and Taekwondo, to join the 13th ASEAN University Games held in Hanoi, Vietnam, and we received a silver medal and a bronze medal. This is a great pride," he said.