The U15 SRYL came to a close in front of a 2,000 strong crowd at Hanuman Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The rain wouldn’t deter the youngsters of Siem Reap as they poured into the stadium to see their school friends playing in the final or collecting their awards at the closing ceremony.
A Big Step In The Right Direction…
With no news on youth leagues being run by the FFC it was Siem Reap United that decided to follow in the steps of Phonon Penh Crown and run their own. There are joined by Future Bright which featured a lot of Tiger youngsters, SRBC, ICF, Plov Jivit and Next Step FC, now Angkor City.
Youth football at grassroots level had largely been forgotten since Globalteer closed their weekend soccer leagues back in 2016. Back then over a 1000 kids would play each and every week. SRU have wasted no time in taking control of the youth football and organizing a superb tournament. The u15 is just the start with over a 100 teams registered for their U13 & U11 competitions due to start in the coming weeks.
The Quality Level On Field… .
Three of the teams; Plov Jivit, SRBC & ICF are not for profit organizations using competitions like this to enhance the students interaction skills and maintain healthy living. Angkor City had no youth teams active this year due to long break so used this competition to build the foundations of what will be an expansive youth program in the coming months. FBIS and SRU however have very good developement programs up and running already and it was no surprise that these were the two teams featuring in Sundays showpiece final.
And The Winner Is… …
Siem Reap United U14, playing in the u15 division. The boys have real quality and a good development program. However, side noted, it’s not a revolutionary model and is an exact replica of Crowns youth development system (led by Dary Bout) and SALT Academy in Battembang (led by Ly Heang from Crown) both pioneered by Sam Schweingruber all those years ago. Yes if you take a group of players and they live together, work together, train together and eat together they will become an exceptional side.
No doubt that the tournament, organized by Alex Kutt, was a massive succuss and we’re all looking forward to the next one.
This article is adapted from BPVE, (https://bpve.com/) reported and edited from the great team – Cambodia Sports Review. (https://www.cambodiasportsreview.com/)
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