Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Women and Sport seminar concludes

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/

Photo by: Yeun Ponlok
Gymnastics coach Pich You attends the Women and Sport seminar at NOCC headquarters.

via CAAI

Tuesday, 08 March 2011 08:00 H S Manjunath

A one-day seminar on Women and Sport held under the joint auspices of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia and the Ministry of Womens Affairs has made a strong case for creating a suitable environment for females to pursue sport as a career rather than mere entertainment.

A call for greater participation of women in sports was the central theme of the key note address to the seminar by Dr Low Beng Choo, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Women and Sports Commission and vice-chair of the Commonwealth Advisory Board on Sport.

Dr Low Beng Choo, who is also a member of the Olympic Council of Asia’s Women and Sports Committee and President of the Softball Confederation of Asia, contended that countries like Cambodia, where women currently outnumber men, should take the lead in formulating a viable policy which would afford better opportunities for females to excel in the field of sports. She also voiced strong support for proportional representation of women in both the administrative and competitive sides of sport.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs came up with a thoughtful and informative presentation on the role of women in society, also emphasising sports participation.

International charity organisation Indochina Starfish Foundation, which is championing the cause of women in the Kingdom, was singled out as a great success story following its splendid work in the promotion of grassroots football among boys and girls.

The Secretary General of the NOCC, Vath Chamroeun, said the one-day seminar was an eye-opener for Cambodia. He noted an overwhelming consensus had now emerged to create more opportunities for women.

“Keeping this in mind, we will organise an ASEAN Regional Seminar on Women and Sport in Siem Reap later this year,” said Vath Chamrouen.

“We are yet to fix the dates but probably the first week of December, when the Angkor Wat International Marathon is scheduled, could be ideal.”

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