Human resource development (HRD) has to be given top priority in the build-up to Cambodia’s hosting of the 2023 SEA Games, a top sports administrator told the concluding session of the three-day Women In Sports Leadership/Training seminar at the Sokhalay Hotel in Siem Reap yesterday.

Delivering the valedictory address on “Leadership Challenges and Mental Toughness”, Vath Chamreoun, secretary-general of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, said HRD represented the biggest challenge, even ahead of investment and infrastructure, as the Kingdom laid out its roadmap for the organisation of a prestigious sports spectacle that will run to millions of dollars.

“We need to augment our human resources so that we can create a healthy progression of athletes, administrators, coaches, officials and even volunteers. This batch is the first to be systematically trained and you have great responsibility in making use of this platform to hone your leadership skills so that you can pass them on to build our reserves,” the NOCC secretary-general told the 35 participants drawn from different segments of the country’s sports community.

“Mental toughness, positive thinking and a zest for excellence are the core elements required for a good leadership culture,” he said, adding: “You can brighten your future and that of your organisation with a purpose-driven, result-oriented approach.’’

The seminar was organised jointly by the NOCC and Cambodia’s Women and Sports Commission as a follow-up to last year’s international conference held at the same venue under the aegis of the Olympic Council of Asia and IOC Olympic Solidarity Movement.

The chairperson of the CWSC, Mak Van Sitha, and deputy chairperson Tay Lida played active roles during the three days of deliberations, the high point of which was the keynote address by Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary-general and member of the IOC Women Commission Beng Choo Low.