As part of its ever ongoing expansion, the Cambodian National Volleyball League (Disabled) is pleased to welcome the Anlong Veng Austcare Lions to the National Standing Volleyball family.

Set at the foot of the Damrek Mountains on the Northern Cambodian – Thai border, Anlong Veng gained notoriety in the late 1990s as the impenetrable guerrilla base of Pol Pot and Ta Mok. Pol Pot’s death in Anlong Veng in 1998 signalled the long awaited end to over thirty years of civil conflict and a turning point in the long and complex process of national reconciliation.

Now slowly emerging from its extended isolation, Anlong Veng remains one of the most impoverished regions of Cambodia with a high percentage of amputee landmine survivors among the male population. The legacy of conflict combined with rapid forest and land clearance for agricultural cultivation has resulted in significant casualties from landmines and unexploded ordnance. Austcare, the Lions sponsor, is one of the most prominent aid agencies in the region, providing assistance to landmine survivors and their families. The Lions are the second team Austcare have sponsored.

Sport can play a unique role in the re-integration of former combatants and in the process of national reconciliation. In the CNVLD Sport and Development model, the past is depoliticised in favour of positive civil society development. 2006 saw the Pailin Hawks welcomed with open arms by all the Cambodian Athletes with a Disability, with Hawks Coach Khem Peng Thong going on to win the prize for Best New Athlete 2006.

Chuoy Kim Horn, Coach of the current National League Champions- the Phnom Penh Sunway Hotel Dragons - said “Before we used to fight each other on different sides of the war. Now we only fight over different sides of the net to win the game”

The CNVLD is proud to welcome the Anlong Veng Austcare Lions into the National B-League competition and all the Athletes with a Disability of Cambodia are looking forward to letting the ball do the talking.

The CNVLD and Austcare: Standing Up Together for the Athletes with a Disability of Cambodia.
For all information regarding the Cambodian National Disability Sports Programmes check:
www.standupcambodia.org