Sports for Social Impact in Cambodia
We use sport to teach children about their rights, gender equality, fair play and the issues that shape their lives.
Using Sport to Talk About Real Issues
In rural Cambodia, children’s rights and voices are often ignored, and extreme poverty forces many to take on adult responsibilities at an early age. Basic knowledge of health, gender equality and other social issues is often missing.
Our sports for social impact sessions use the game to change that. Between regular coaching sessions, our coaches run special activities that link sport to everyday life. Children then take these lessons from the playing field into their homes and communities.
What Topics Do Our Sessions Cover?
Each special session focuses on one important social topic. Our coaches use games, team challenges and open conversations to explore:
Children’s Rights
Children learn about their rights and how to speak up for them, building the confidence to voice their opinions at home and at school.
The Environment
Sessions link the game to looking after the places where children live and play, from their own village to the pitch itself.
Gender Equality
Girls and boys play side by side, and sessions challenge the idea that sport is only for boys. Through Goals for Girls, young women take the lead.
Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Coaches use games to open honest conversations about the harm alcohol and drugs can cause, and about making healthy choices.
Corruption and Fair Play
Playing by the rules on the pitch becomes a way to talk about honesty, fairness and why corruption hurts everyone.
Lessons That Go Beyond the Pitch
Sport is fun, but it is so much more than that. Children naturally learn valuable lessons from playing sport, from basic communication skills to teamwork and healthy lifestyles. Our sessions build on this to teach life skills through sport, focusing on:
- Leadership and teamwork, on and off the field
- Fair play, sportsmanship and self-improvement, the key values behind all our programming
- Speaking up, so children can face challenges, assert their rights and voice their opinions
Working Within Communities
The Globalteer sports project is about working within communities to champion the rights of children and help them enjoy their childhood. Through our community outreach, coaches travel to villages and partner schools across Siem Reap province, giving children free access to football, volleyball and other activities.
Combining sport with physical education and social messages means every session does more than teach a skill. Working closely with teachers, families and local leaders helps these lessons reach beyond the pitch and into everyday life.
What Changes Do We See in Children?
By combining sport with social messages, children don’t just learn new skills. Here is what we see in the children who take part:
Growing Confidence
Children grow in confidence on the field, and that confidence carries into the classroom and their lives at home.
Facing Challenges
Sport teaches children to keep going when things get hard, and to find their own ways to face challenges.
A Voice of Their Own
Children learn to assert their rights and voice their opinions in a place where their voices are often ignored.
Teamwork and Leadership
Working together on the pitch builds teamwork, communication and the leadership skills children need as they grow up.
Empowering Girls Through Sport
Sports are out of reach for most Cambodian women, and girls often stop playing altogether once they reach their teens. Gender equality is one of the topics our sessions return to again and again.
Through Goals for Girls, around 25 young women aged 16 to 19 are reclaiming the sports field. They now help run the Globalteer Games, showing younger girls and boys what women can do in sport.
Why Sport Works for Social Change
Sport can engage children from disadvantaged and difficult backgrounds in a way few other activities can. It brings children together in a safe space and lets kids be kids, in a place where many are forced to grow up much too quickly.
Every session takes place in a safe, supervised space, following Globalteer’s child protection standards. We believe the power of play can help drive positive change, one game at a time.
How You Can Support Sports for Social Impact
There are several ways you can help us use sport to teach life lessons to more children in Cambodia:
Your donation helps pay for coaches, sports equipment and weekly sessions in villages and schools across Siem Reap.
Share your love of sport with children in Siem Reap. Volunteers support our coaches and help design new games and sessions.
A donation of £250 / US$300 covers 15 sports shirts for our children, with your organisation’s logo on them.
Help Children Learn Life Lessons Through Play
With the support of our coaches, volunteers and donors, children across Siem Reap learn about their rights, fair play and gender equality through the games they love. Every session helps them grow in confidence and find their voice.
Frequently Asked Questions
It means using sport to teach children about real issues. Between regular coaching sessions, our coaches run special activities that link the game to everyday life, so children learn lessons they can take home to their families and communities.
Each special session focuses on one topic: children’s rights, the environment, gender equality, alcohol and drug abuse, or corruption and fair play.
Children from the villages and schools in our sports programme, which reaches more than 2,500 children across 7 villages and 9 schools in Siem Reap province.
Yes. Volunteers support our local coaches, plan new games and help run sports for social impact activities. You don’t need a coaching qualification, and full training and support are provided. Find out about volunteering.
You can donate, volunteer, fundraise or sponsor team shirts. £250 (US$300) covers 15 shirts printed with your logo.