Anyway, one of the two of them, Scott, was also making a side-project documentary about the Disabled Volleyball League of Cambodia, which is apparently the best-run and least-corrupt sports league in Cambodia. There was a tournament the next day, so I met Scott at the court and I watched 3 matches.
These players are INCREDIBLE!
So how disabled are they? Some of them only had minor restrictions in their movement caused by polio or having been shot in the arm, but about 70% were landmine victims who had missing limbs or hands. The best disabled-volleyball spiker in the world was there, and he plays barefoot and is missing his right forearm. His ability is even more exceptional because, like in many countries, all Cambodians are taught to be right-handed. So he essentially had to learn to play volleyball, or re-learn how to play, in a counter-intuitive manner. A left handed spiker in Cambodia is a truly remarkable feat!
Below, the best spiker wins the point!
The whole day was pretty incredible and inspirational, and I was so surprised by the high level of play. Apparently Phnom Penh is hosting the world cup of Disabled Volleyball in Dec 2007--I won't be here. It's cool the things you learn that you never knew existed!
Last weekend, I was able to break away from my Clinton trip-planning duties to watch the championships in the one indoor court in all of Cambodia, at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh. The Phnom Penh Sunway Dragons beat the Siem Reap DHL Eagles 25-15, 25-20, 25-17 (not absolutely certain about the score in that last set, but I think it's correct). It was a really exciting game, and the left-handed spiker for the Dragons (about whom I wrote above) definitely dominated with spikes and blocks.
The stadium, with a capacity of 2000 or so, was about a quarter filled. Despite the feeling of emptiness, the game generated a lot of excitement among those who were there, with people cheering shouting, clapping for good points. There were about 20 foreigners there, a lot of Cambodians, about 7-8 of the other teams in the league (I sat behind them for one set and it was like sitting in an enclosed smoking section—for athletes, those guys smoke a lot of cigarettes!). What was strange was that there were so many more Siem Reap fans, despite the game being in Phnom Penh. And the Siem Reap sponsors came out in droves—there were about 20 Cambodian DHL workers dressed in their daily uniforms cheering for their team! The Siem Reap fans were definitely the most vocal, shouting “SIEM REAP” every time they scored a point.
One other strange thing was the VIP section in the stands. Granted, it was the championships, and the His Excellency ……., the Minister of Social, Veterans and Youth Affairs (MoSVY) was in attendance. But I thought the Cambodian waiters dressed in tuxes serving soda, water, and hors d’ouvres was a bit overboard. I guess it is not so strange, considering the amount of corruption in most levels of government in this country, and considering that they wanted to show off at the Championship game, but I was certainly surprised.
But seriously, I haven’t seen that level of skill and intensity in a volleyball match in a long time (sorry if I offend any of my Team from the Block/Fellowship of the Bling team members with this statement).
You can check out a clip of Scott's footage here. Also, look at his "Hunting Dumplings" post--I ate lunch at this place with my Cambodian coworker Saingyouth last week and it was incredible!!!
Hell yeah, volleyball!
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