Benfica (officially known as Sport Lisboa e Benfica) are two times winners of the UEFA Champions League and are one of Europe's biggest football clubs. CJ Coaching's extensive contacts within European football allowed them to bring Benfica coaches Gonçalo António & João Rosmaninho to Cambodia in JulyThe five day Benfica camp hosted at Northbridge International School Cambodia had a significant impact on our players. Chanthou (aged 14) exclaimed “I saw how attentive they were to training and football skills,” She enthused: “Immediate adjustments were made to any shortcomings to enhance the quality of our football”.
HFCA carefully selected the 12 girls (average age 13) from our Phnom Penh based NGO partner Cambodian Children's Fund. HFCA needed players who understood clearly the commitment required to train with one of Europe's top football clubs.
In April this year these 12 girls had represented HFCA at the 2023 JSSL 7's international tournament in Singapore and that 4 days professional football experience in Singapore clearly stood to them as all 12 players had a 100% attendance record over the 5 days of training with Benfica.
Benfica coach Gonçalo António "In Benfica's opinion this partnership between CJ Coaching & HFCA contributes for these girls to have professional football experiences and learn the Benfica way of playing football''
António see the possibility of HFCA's girls becoming professional footballers "These HFCA girls can do it but must work hard, be disciplined on and off the pitch and make football an integral part of their life''
The CJ Coaching team, especially Jay Wood, did an amazing job coordinating the Benfica camp, and Wood saw value in HFCA's involvement "Through the collaboration between CJ Coaching and Benfica, HFCA girls had the opportunity to not only develop their football skills but also gain valuable life experience".Having previously worked with coaches from UEFA Champions League winners such as Real Madrid (2012), Scotland's Celtic FC (2017), Italian giants Inter Milan (2008) and Manchester United (2010), HFCA were honoured to add Benfica to the list of huge football clubs we have collaborated with.
Chanthim (aged 14) was part of the Benfica camp & feels very passionate about playing football "'Women are not weak at all, our mentality is as strong as men. I want to address that issue, don't judge us by our appearance. Women playing sport is not harmful to society. Its builds us stronger & playing football is especially good for brain function"
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