As part of a unique drive to promote women’s football, teams from all over the country are in the midst of the five-day National Girls U15 Football Festival that began at the RSN Stadium in Tuol Kork over the weekend and moves to Old Stadium today.

Teams from Poipet, Pailin, Siem Reap, Pursat, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Speu, Preah Sihanouk, Kandal, Phnom Penh, Kampong Thom and Battambang provinces will shift their focus to competitive football, with one of the Kingdom’s most popular female singers, Meas Soksophea, set to perform at tomorrow’s closing ceremony.

Group matches start from 8:30am today, with teams progressing to knockout rounds from 1pm tomorrow. The grand final is slated for 3:45pm tomorrow.

The festival, now in its second edition, is organised by Battambang-based SALT Academy, a local NGO dedicated to the development of women’s football and leadership training to enrich them with life skills.

It is sponsored by the German Embassy and supported by Smart, Phnom Penh Crown Football Club, TUV, Bayer Bosch, Total, Little Kitchen, Meta House, Goethe Institute and GIZ.

Educational workshops for the participants as well as female coaches and referees were part of the festival. On Sunday the girls learned how to treat injuries and enjoyed a session with a Football

Federation of Cambodia referee instructor on the laws of the game.