This is the story of Chouy Kim Horn: Reigning Cambodian National League Champions Coach and Cambodian National Team Assistant Coach - One of Cambodia's Greatest Athletes.

Chuoy Kim Horn, 43, is one of the greatest Cambodian Athletes with a Disability in sporting history and epitomises the CNVLD’s success in creating long term rehabilitation opportunities for demobilized soldiers through national sporting programmes.

Born in Troul Trea village, Prek Khmeng commune, Lvea Em district, Kandal province in 1964, Horn now lives in Kean Svay district with his wife and two children and trains his team, the Phnom Penh Sunway Hotel Dragons every weekend. Unemployed when he became a CNVLD Athlete, Horn is now a Security Guard for CONCERN, an international NGO working in Cambodia.

Like the majority of the CNVLD athletes and his contemporaries, Chouy Kim Horn joined the army at a young age as the Cambodian Government fought to overcome the Khmer Rouge in the northern border areas of Cambodia. Signing up in 1986, when he was 22, Horn “was in the army because I wanted to help my country and fought in Battambang Province”

Four years later in 1990, Horn became one of the thousands of Cambodian casualties of landmines. “I lost my leg by stepping on a landmine during the fighting. After stepping on the landmine I was not unconscious. I cried for help and my friends came to help me, 15 minutes later then I fell unconscious. When I woke up, everything was finished. My leg was cut and I stayed at Battambang Hospital for one week. My friends always came to visit me but my relatives never came because they lived far a way from Battambang. By the way they didn’t have enough money to pay for a visit.”

After his accident, Horn experienced the prejudice and exclusion felt by so many former soldiers disabled through the conflict though this merely fuelled his determination; “Many people looked down on me so I was very disappointed and sad. From that time I thought that I want to stop discrimination.”

Ten years later, sport became the ideal way for Horn to achieve his aim: “I started playing for CNVLD in 2000 and I became a coach at that time. I became a coach by selection of the CNVLD though I have been trained by foreign coaches from places such as Germany, Australia”

Chouy Kim Horn joined the CNVLD and became the Coach of the Phnom Penh Sunway Hotel Dragons who have since gone on to be consecutive National League Champions every year since, a six year record that is unlikely to be challenged any time in the near future.

The success of the Phnom Penh Sunway Hotel Dragons can be attributed largely to Horn’s dedication to his team and his refusal to accept defeat. The Dragon’s athletes are long used to being ordered to do press-ups as punishment for any mistake they make during training. Horn’s management of his team however extends beyond simple training: “I concentrate on volleyball technique and I motivate to the athletes, treat them like my family members and told them to be self- confidence in training or in competition. I give them the hope and I am strong in training or in competition as I am a coach.” Some of the finest Dragons and National Team Athletes such as Man Veasna and Nheom Buntheoun come from exceptionally disadvantaged backgrounds and Horn would often take them home after training where his wife would ensure they went home with full stomachs.

As one of the most respected coaches in the National League, Horn has very clear views about how such respect is gained: “I respect all the coaches who have good behavior and never think about personal thing and respect the rule of the organization”.

Horn’s gives great credit to volleyball for changing his life, his dignity, strength and standing in the community: “it makes me have a lot of friends, get healthy, happy and especially I can show my ability of “How strong I am” to stop discrimination to disabled people and it also helps something in my family life. I have learnt how to lead the people, how to use the volleyball technique (volleyball skill) and I have also learnt about how to be display good behavior. Sport has changed my life step by step, before I was the captain to the coach and the national player. I also get honor and have a lot of friends”

Horn has also been one of the most reliable and consistent players in the Cambodian National Team, representing his nation in the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, 2001 Slovakia World Cup, the 2002 Busan Korea FESPIC games (where Cambodia won Gold), the 2004 Greece Paralympics, 2004 German Friendship Games and the 2005 Regina, Canada World Cup. Horn also led Cambodia to victory at the 2005 WOVD Asia-Pacific Championships in Phnom Penh, solidifying Cambodia’s bid to become the ASEAN Centre for Disability Sport.

Horn’s ambitions are very much a reflection on his character, as are his predictions for the 2007 National League: “I want disabled sport ongoing for the new disabled generation and I also want my family situation to get better. I am sure though that my team will win in the 2007 league.”

Athletes like Chuoy Kim Horn are the key to the success of the CNVLD and disability sport in Cambodia. With their dedication, skill and experience, they bring honour and pride to their Nation.

Chuoy Kim Horn – One of Cambodia's Greatest Athletes.

To read Horn's full individual and team profile visit: http://www.standupcambodia.org <br><br>Post edited by: CNVLD, at: 2007/08/16 08:46