ANZ Royal CNVLD Cambodian National Wheelchair Racing Program Flag

  • Award Entered:
    Sport Federation or Governing Body of the Year
  • Parent Organisation:
    CNVLD: Cambodian National Volleyball League (Disabled) Organisation
  • Project Host Nation:
    Cambodia
  • Overview of Project:
    From concept to reality to corporate sustainability in just three years, the CNVLD – ANZ Royal Wheelie Grand Prix programme is demonstrating that long-term partnership between local sports organisations and the corporate sector can be an effective path to sustainable sports development. The CNVLD is the premier disability sports organisation in Cambodia, implementing the first and only National Wheelchair Racing programme, with a special focus on women and persons with a severe disability. ANZ- Royal Bank, the Cambodian subsidiary of ANZ Bank and one of Australia’s leading corporate entities, first opened in Cambodia in 2005 and has since taken a majority share of the market. Through a successful, award winning template based on a clear formula, the CNVLD has undertaken the responsibility to deliver a high quality sporting product initially developed with international partners, including the Australian Business Volunteer (ABV) programme, and complemented by the local design and manufacture of the first Cambodian racing wheelchair. A key element to this formula is the CNVLD’s ‘We do not want charity’ approach in recognition that donor funding is a time-limited resource. Sport has immense potential to instigate social change in particular by building the discipline necessary for employment creation.

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: 25 Feb 2009 - 06:20 GMT

The next in the series of CNVLD Profiles focuses on a truly inspirational woman from Kompong Chhnang: Srey Hun – A Cambodian Woman with a Disability who Stands Up for the Women Athletes with a Disability at every opportunity. Srey Hun works for NHS, the home of the ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix Kompong Chhnang Racing Team. Her job at NHS is as a cleaner but her skills far surpass her formal role and since 2006 she has voluntarily taken on the role of ‘Aunty’ for all the Women Athletes with a Disability in the ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix. Srey Hun is not an athlete herself but is a woman with a severe disability. Nonetheless she always helps to look after and feed the team in Kompong Chhnang and always joins them whenever they travel for competitions and as a result has become an essential part of the CNVLD team. A close friend of the “Iron Lady” Yem Moeurn and top athlete Um Sophat, Srey Hun has also become firm friends with the Battambang All-Women’s Racing Team and has been to every ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix event since 2006. More importantly, Srey Hun is held in the highest respect by the male athletes with a disability who she also regularly helps at every opportunity. At the recent competition in Kompong Som in December 2008, Srey Hun again showed her dedication by organising all the food for the athletes, seeing to the sleeping arrangements, assisting them with their personal and race equipment and making sure they stayed on schedule with the training and competition. Always smiling and full of energy, Srey Hun is a model of polite, respectful dedication and her pride and enjoyment at being involved is clear for all to see. She is a shining example of how the unique power of sport can contribute to personal and social development as well as reflecting the powerful role that volunteerism, especially within the Cambodian disability community, can play to advance the rights and awareness of the Athletes with a Disability. The CNVLD wishes to thank Srey Hun and NHS for their ongoing support for the Athletes with a Disability of Cambodia and looks forward to welcoming her and the whole Kompong Chhnang team back to Phnom Penh for the 1st Round of the 2009 ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix. Srey Hun: A Cambodian Woman with a Disability Standing Up for Others

: 25 Feb 2009 - 06:18 GMT

Loet Ngait: A CNVLD Woman On The Move - Sponsored by Lisa Tenuta and Joe Krupp In celebration of the achievements of the new ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix 100m Women’s Champion, the CNVLD profiles Ms Loet Ngait: A Woman On The Move Ms. Loet Ngait, from the Kompong Speu Racing Team is one of the longest serving athletes in the programme having joined the team in early 2006 and competed in every single race to date. After more than three years of strenuous training in all conditions and narrowly missing out on podium spots to former champions Yua Pisey, Touch Nary, Um Sophat and the recently dominant Battambang All-Women’s Racing Team, by the end of 2008 Ngait decided it was her time to turn on the power. At the ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix 2008 2nd Round Competition in Kompong Som she powered away from the opposition to claim 1st place and the Championship trophy in the 100m Women’s Final in a searing time of 21.53 seconds; a full 2 seconds ahead of her closest rival. As a child Ngait suffered a terrible accident which left her virtually unable to walk and permanently scarred across her hands, arms and legs. Yet her injuries have never dampened her spirit and Ngait is well known among all the teams as having one of the sharpest wits and darkest senses of humour of any of the athletes. Any one who dares crack a joke at Ngait’s expense soon finds themselves at the blunt end of sassy, hilarious ripostes and she is renowned for standing up for her sister athletes among the men. Yet below her tough exterior, Ngait remains a sensitive and at times intensely shy young woman, largely due to her lack of formal education. Still illiterate and single at age 26, Ngait symbolises in many ways the unique power of sport to allow individuals to flourish and build pride, dignity and confidence and enhance their sense of independence. The ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix has also helped Ngait gain the respect of her community through having a new found degree of economic independence. After winning the 100m Finals in Kompong Som and combined with her training and competition subsidies, Ngait went home with US$258 – a substantial sum in her village in Kompong Speu. As part of the new cooperative policy between ANZ Royal Bank and the CNVLD whereby all athletes are now opening bank accounts, Ngait had to overcome her shyness at her lack of education to visit the bank to open her account. But with the assistance of her outstanding coach, Mr. Ek Kimleng, the CNVLD staff and the exceptionally helpful ANZ Royal Staff, she soon came away proudly displaying her new ANZ Royal bank card and withdrew a portion of her winnings to take home to Kompong Speu. The CNVLD salutes Loet Ngiat for her dedication and hard work and congratulates her on becoming the ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix 2008 Women’s 100m Champion. The ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix: Building Pride, Health and Confidence for the Women Athletes with a Disability of Cambodia Loet Ngait: A Woman On The Move

: 25 Feb 2009 - 06:16 GMT

Van Vun – National Champion Aims for International Success Profile of ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix athlete zooms in on current National Male Champion Van Vun. Van Vun, 22, from Talun village, Sa’ang district, Kandal province is one of the most outstanding success stories of the racing wheelchair programme and has been National Male Champion since mid 2007. Now entering his fourth consecutive year of racing, Vun’s exceptional performances have seen him emerge as the leading contender to be the first Cambodian National Wheelchair Racing Champion to compete internationally. The CNVLD caught up with Vun as he prepares to begin training again for the upcoming 1st Round of the 2009 ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix in Phnom Penh in April 2009. Vun is part of the Cambodian generation born in the 1980’s which found itself open to the ravages of polio before it was finally eradicated through a Cambodian Government / WHO inoculation programme during the 1990s. One of a family of four brothers and a sister, Vun was the only one in his family who contracted polio when he was just one year old. “My family took me to the local hospital and the doctors tried to help as much as they could but afterwards, I could never use either of my legs again.” But Vun has been lucky enough to have an exceptionally supportive family and, unlike many young Cambodians with a disability of his generation, completed his schooling up until Grade 9 ensuring that he can read and write perfectly. Vun is a member of the AAR Racing Team based at the Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Centre in Phnom Penh. In 2006 he studied TV Repair Mechanics at the AAR Vocational Training Centre, where he was persuaded to join the new CNVLD wheelchair racing programme by Team Coach and AAR employee Pov Sophal. “I joined the team because I’ve always loved watching sport and I wanted to get healthy. Before then, I had never played any sport before. The racing wheelchair was very different but I learnt very quickly and easily how to control it. None of my family and friends believed me when I told them I was playing sport until they saw me on TV and I came home with my trophies. Now they are very proud of my achievements and take my sport seriously.” At the end of 2007, Vun left the AAR centre to return back to Kandal province after completing his training and because his family lived more than an hour’s drive from Phnom Penh, Vun was forced to leave the racing wheelchair programme for a short time. However, at the start of 2008 he returned to Phnom Penh for another year of vocational training and quickly re-took his place in the team and reasserted his dominance as the fastest athlete in Cambodia. “I was happy to start racing again because I could see my friends and continue to stay healthy through the training. I’ve also enjoyed the opportunity to travel around Cambodia for the first time to Siem Reap, Battambang and Kompong Som. The sport has changed my life because I’m more confident, happier, healthier and the money I earn through training and winning competitions lets me help my family.” In late 2007, the ANZ Royal CNVLD Wheelie Grand Prix switched to a 100m format and in the last three competitions in Phnom Penh and Kompong Som, Vun has literally ridden away from the opposition to come over the line at least 2 seconds ahead of the his closest rival Souen Vanna, in times which have consistently hovered around the 17 second mark. “To be honest, I prefer racing over long-distances but I always train specifically for the event which is coming up next to make sure I can win.” As part of the CNVLD’s long term strategy to send the first ever Cambodian wheelchair racer to compete in the Paralympic Games, Vun will compete in one international competition per year in the run up to the London 2012 Games. His first international outing will be the 2009 Melbourne Marathon scheduled for October where legendary ABV Mr Val Sutherland and his wife Joan will provide accommodation and support. Vun will race over the 10km distance. “I always wanted to be and knew I could be #1 here in Cambodia but before I thought it would be too difficult for a Cambodian to succeed internationally because we don’t have the opportunity. I would love to see other countries and it would make me very proud to represent my country in the international competition. Especially after seeing the Thai athlete win gold at the Beijing Paralympics, I also know now that Asian athletes can be the best if they have the opportunity.” For Vun’s first foray abroad, he will train and race in an international standard racing chair (generously donated by Team Canada during the 2007 WOVD Cambodia Standing Volleyball World Cup) rather than the locally produced Angkor Racer. “I’m very excited about racing in the high quality chair. Our local chairs are very strong and are well suited to training on Cambodian roads, but they are heavy and we could not race against the top international racers without having similar chairs.” After an initial training session in the new chair, Vun was quickly shaving seconds off his times and his beaming grin told the story of what a difference it made! When asked about his ambitions for the future, Vun didn’t hesitate. “I want to continue with my sport and hope to compete internationally. When I get too old to be the Champion, I want to help younger athletes to train and compete just like my Coach Pov Sophal has done for me. I want to continue my studies and set up my own TV repair business and later want to get married and have my own children.” The CNVLD salutes Van Vun for his dedication and exceptional sporting talent and looks forward to supporting his dream of becoming the first ever Cambodian wheelchair racer to represent his nation in international competition. The CNVLD, ANZ Royal and Van Vun: Developing National Champions and Internationally Recognised Athletes with a Disability of Cambodia

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