For the Cambodian Student Sports Federation (CSSF) which is less than 20 years old in the FISU fold, it was a very big achievement to hold national University Games in 2018, in which 22 universities participated.
“We had 800 students participating in six different sports, and we held the event on the same day as the International Day of University Sport,” said CSSF President Sar Sokha to FISU Student Ambassador Meth Kaden Kado. “
“It was the first time in Cambodia that we used an online registration system,” he added. “This allowed universities to easily sign up their students, according to discipline in a fast and more efficient manner than paper registration.”
The CSSF is also glad to receive support from the Cambodian government. “Sport is the first priority sector of development,” said Mr Sokha. “Through this policy, all organisations in the sport sector in Cambodia have received more support, including CSSF. There is more prizemoney, more encouragement and motivation for university students who are not professional enough for the Universiade but like to compete.”
CSSF was founded in 2004 by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport in the country. Presently too, the federation operates under the government structure of the Department of Physical Education and Sports in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
There are 121 public and private universities in Cambodia with more than 200,000 enrolled students. Each university has its student council, including sports clubs. It is through these student councils that CSSF communicates directly to students, events like the national University Games, the Universiade, World University Championships etc.
“To further develop more modern ways of communication, we would like to have an information sharing system on the CSSF website, which will allow wider reach and more flexible way of broadcasting information about university sport,” said the CSSF President.
CSSF is keen to have more of their athletes participating in the international FISU events.
“If we are invited to any international event, we are glad to take part as much as possible,” he said. “Cambodian sport is still in a developing stage, but we are willing to learn and improve our federation as well as our country.”
Finally, Mr Sokha said, “All young people need to know how to play at least one sport in their life. Therefore, CSSF will ensure the development of sport from primary school to university, by improving the quality of competition at university level, and by getting more participants at our events.”