HAPPY FOOTBALL

CAMBODIA

AUSTRALIA

Winners of the boys competition, Oroong Village with their Australian coaches in blue. Image Andrew Fox/IGS

HFCA's 80 Village youth with the 88 students from Melbourne school after a great day of football. Image Andrew Fox/IGS

Penny enjoyed watching the tournament unfold "I loved the football matches. They were so exciting! It was really fun trying to capture the excitement of the matches on video and in photos.''

Penny's learnings from the day ''How something as simple as a football tournament can mean so much to people. I’m not really into football, but I understand why people are passionate about it. You just get caught up in the energy.''

The Ivanhoe Grammar School Village Cup would have not have been possible without the hugely significant contribution of our Siem Reap partner Build your Future Today.

Check our more pictures from the Village Cup HERE

IGS student Penny is focused on capturing the moment for the HFCA Facebook page. Image Andrew Fox/IGS

Coach Lexie (Far right in blue) presents her player Chanta with her winners medal. Image Andrew Fox

It's all action in the match between Oroong Village & Chub Smach Village girls teams. Andrew Fox/IGS

HFCA also handed over control of our Facebook page and our 110k followers to another 16 students to act as photographers, videographers, content writers and producers. Many other vital roles such as stadium and pitch management, scoreboard managers and music were managed by IGS students and with 88 students joining on the day those not actively involved in event roles just picked a village team and followed them passionately.

One IGS student Penny (Aged 16) enjoyed her role as a photographer/videographer, "It felt good putting together video montages of the games. I wanted to make sure we got lots of action shots, players scoring, winning goals, and celebrations, so the Cambodian youth could see themselves on video and feel proud.''

Lexie was impressed with the event "Just the whole carnival atmosphere. It was such a joy to see all the Cambodian girls and boys celebrating with the Ivanhoe students. The common camaraderie among young people from very different walks of life." 

And she learned a lot "That it takes a lot of organisation to create these events, but when you see everything come together, and everybody having fun, there is no more rewarding feeling."

To ensure the IGS students who spent months fundraising to cover the Village Cup costs got the most out of their experience, HFCA asked the students to run the event! And they did a fantastic job with 24 students taking on roles as coaches with three coaches for each of the eight competing teams.

IGS student Lexie (Aged 17) on her first ever role as a football coach "Great experience. At the start it was a bit difficult communicating but by the end of the tournament I felt we had really made a connection. The sense of fun and competition overcame the language barriers!''

With a total of 40 boys in four teams in the boys tournament and another 40 girls in four teams in the girls tournament each village team was guaranteed three matches each. 
 

''To be able to provide our HFCA partners with the Village Cup experience was a privilege for our students. The scoring came more regularly this year a testament to their coaching programs. It is a day of shared sporting passion to be remembered by everyone.'' said David Gibbs, IGS Teacher in Charge Cambodia Service Project

HFCA's close friends from Melbourne, Australia came for their annual visit and it's always a special day when IGS (Ivanhoe Grammar School) and HFCA join forces to jointly host the Village Cup. After the success of the 2023 Ivanhoe Grammar School Village Cup it made perfect sense to do it again in 2024 and HFCA's 80 youth from our village football programs had a wonderful experience.

Football website design by SportsWeb Australia

© 2025 Happy Football Cambodia, Australia. All rights reserved.

Consumer Affair Victoria registration number A0050533D (Australia)

Australian Charities and not for profit Commission registration number 44105106308

Australian Business Number 44105106308

D&B D-U-N-S Number 743776280

© HFCA All Rights Reserved 2023.