Casey Barnett, director of CamEd Business School, has noted the importance of developing athletic talent through higher education institutions as a vital source of support for Cambodia’s national teams across various sports.
He explained that CamEd regularly organises sporting competitions for its students. These events aim to give students life experience while especially encouraging those with athletic potential to continue developing their skills — so they can become resources for the national teams in different disciplines.
“At CamEd, we organise competitions in 15 different sports every year. We strive to be a model for the higher education sector, and we hope that other institutes and universities will increase their investment in student sports programmes,” he said.
“In many countries, university-level athletes are a key source for national team selection across specialised sports federations. If we foster a strong sports culture in higher education, it can provide more athletic talent to represent the country in international competitions,” he added.
On Sunday, June 1, the school concluded the 2025 season of the CamEd Women’s Futsal Tournament. The event kicked off on April 26 and took place at the training hall of the National Olympic Stadium’s multi-sport complex.
A total of 104 female students, representing 10 teams, participated in the tournament.
The Wild Cats emerged as champions after defeating Xiongmei FT 5–0 in the June 1 final. Powerpuff Girls took third place, while Supernova came fourth and also received the Fair Play award. Additional individual awards were presented for Best Goalkeeper and Top Scorer.
Throughout the month-long tournament, Barnett observed that this year’s tournament demonstrated a high level of competition. Among the 104 participants, he identified several players with outstanding talent and strong skills who could potentially train with the national team.
Recognising this benefit, Barnett — who also serves as vice-president of the Cambodian Sambo Federation and first vice-president of the Cambodian Wrestling Federation — expressed his intention to use CamEd’s sports environment as a platform to inspire more Cambodian youth to take up sports. This, he said, would contribute toward preparing Cambodia to host the 2029 Asian Youth Games for the first time.
“We want to cultivate a culture of sports in Cambodia, especially as the country prepares to host the 2029 Asian Youth Games. We want our students to serve as role models to inspire other youth to participate in sports, not only to prepare for hosting the event, but also to promote good health, build friendships and strengthen unity,” he added.
