In their own words two Ivanhoe Grammar students describe what it means to them to visit HFCA in early June
Every year the school meets up with this foundation to support the children, who range from 10-22 years old, and donate funds to the program to help support it. This year was no different. We all listened eagerly to children’s fantastic stories of their aspirations and dreams for the future and how the program helps them to achieve them. It made us feel how spoilt we are back home and how privileged our lives are. It has become the tradition that every time the school meets with HFCA a friendly match is played between the 2 factions. As our group had a lot more people than previous years 2 games were simultaneously played, with one being the “competitive” match and one being a “friendly” match, to allow everyone to join in on the fun. Going into the “competitive” match we knew that we were going to get destroyed by the skillful Cambodian kids who have trained with a dream to be professional players one day. However, surprisingly, both teams were fairly even, probably because we had a state soccer player on the trip which helped increase our odds by a little. At half time it was 3 apiece but our side was visibly more fatigued from the climate compared to the HFCA all-star squad. In the second half, the Ivanhoe team were all dripping sweat and were struggling to get through the next 20 minutes. This is when Cambodians took advantage of us and scored 3 goals, ending in a 3-6 loss to Ivanhoe. The scores were unknown in the ‘friendly’ match because, as it states, it was friendly and the purpose wasn’t just to score, but to have lots of fun, which we all did! The Ivanhoe Grammar School team and the HFCA team shook hands at the completion of both games and we all got together for a nice, sweaty photo. The whole group finally debriefed and was thanked for allowing Ivanhoe Grammar School to, once again, play soccer against such an inspirational organisation.
- Yang Chen and Kehley Bitzas Ivanhoe Grammar School, Australia
If you would like to see more pictures of the day click HERE
