Yet another player development clinic for the Frisbee folks in Cambodia. This time around we had over 150 kids coming from at least 6 different organizations and 3 provinces. 50 of the kids were campers from the Youth Ultimate Project. This was an all-day event where our kids were split up into different groups based on their age and skill levels. During lunch, the Swa Ultimate team took on an exhibition game against the Phnom Penh Ultimate Association. We won the game with the score of 10-3! The boys and the girls were extremely thrilled! We had many young Cambodian players there rooting and cheering for us! We have fans now!

The clinic was made possible by the Youth Ultimate Project and Empowering Youth in Cambodia. A big shout out to the Phnom Penh Ultimate Association for putting together another amazing fun-filled event! Yay to Ultimate Frisbee!

More photos here.

  Swa Ultimate is going to make history this upcoming spring. We will compete for the first time ever as a team in the Mekong Cup 2014, which will take place in Phnom Penh Cambodia. Unfortunately, it’s a open tournament, which means we need girls, and we do not have any girl members. It is tough, and we’ve been trying to recruit female players to join our team. For many reasons, Phnom Penh is a tough place for that.

However, in Kampong Cham province, there is a group of female players trained by a Peace Corp volunteer, Vicky Chan. We are excited to announce that we will combine forces and compete in the Mekong Cup.

In order to prepare for the big day, the boys and the girls met up during the Khmer New Year holiday for a two-day practice. It started out very rough at first mainly because we never played together. After a few hours and couple ice breaking activities, we were finally able to play real games. At night, the girls took us around town, had dinner in a park, and played traditional Khmer New year games. It was a great time spent getting to know one another.

This was made possible with the help from the Player Development fund of the Phnom Penh Ultimate Association and the support from the Youth Ultimate Project.

We’re ready! Bring it on!

MThe latest Hat tournament happened to be right here in Phnom Penh. Eleven of the Swa boys were enthusiastically able to participate in the Big Phat Phnom Penh Hat 2014. This timer around many of them were prepared and ready to face their opponents. Unlike in Vietnam, a few of the boys were put in the same team, which really helped out with the communication because some of our younger players could not speak English well.

Since the last Hat in Vietnam, the difference in their skill level and game play was appearance on the fields. They played with confidence, determination, and fluency. They owned the disc each time. Most importantly, they had fun! Finally, the boys felt a sense of belonging in the Frisbee community because people started to recognize them and their potential.

We want to thank the continuous support from the Phnom Penh Ultimate Association who have always been there for the boys, teaching and guiding them through it all. Also, the Youth Ultimate Project continues to be a big part of the Swa’s development activities. A big shout out to AUSSIE XL for sponsoring the cost of the tournament. And a huge Thank you to Lone Star Salon for putting together a fundraiser to help pay for rental fee of our field practice.

In short, thank you for making it possible and giving the boys opportunity to enjoy this amazing sport!

More Photos Here.