Who is HFCA?
HFCA (Happy Football Cambodia Australia) was formed in 2005.HFCA's main purpose is to work with disadvantaged youth in Cambodia through the medium of the Beautiful game AKA Football. We fund a football program in Phnom Penh which is the capital city of Cambodia.
Our Work
Our partner organisations Riverkids Project, Centre For Childrens Happiness, Cambodian Childrens Fund, Happy School and Cambodian Kids Foundation
work with children who come families who are living in extreme poverty,
children who have been orphaned, lived on dumps or rescued from
brothels or other forms of slavery. We fund a football program that
offers these young people an opportunity to learn the skills required to
play the game and learn how to be part of a team. We provide them with
football boots and other gear as well ensuring they get the best
possible coaching from professional coaches from the Cambodian Football
Federation. We pay all costs associated with the program which allows
our partners to provide a free service to the young people who are part
of their programs. In Cambodia the number of girls who attend school as
well as sporting programs is far less than the number of boys who take
part. HFCA are committed to working with girls as well as boys and do
everything possible to encourage girls to take part in our program.
Every year we aim to take a team to the Homeless World Cup so they can dream of representing Cambodia on on an international stage and have a life changing experience. According to Riverkids, taking part in the Homeless World Cup was fantastic for the players "After attending the Homeless World Cup and arriving home, we noticed a change in these children. They were so happy, proud and much more confident. They become the leaders of kids at their community and would take it upon themselves to organize football matches with their friends at the slum. They had such a positive attitude and that influenced other children as well. They had pride in themselves, in their country - and that is something that we very much want to encourage at Riverkids. The community also noticed a difference - and everyone was very happy when they heard about the news. It proved to families that sending their children to Riverkids, getting them educated and interested in activities such as football was a positive step - and it could result in their child one day being selected to go on such an adventure. So they started to send their children to Riverkids more regularly - which is such a benefit to these children."
HFCA hopes that through football we can give these young people a reason to smile and forget about the issues they face even if its only for a few hours when they are training or playing a game. If they work hard enough they too can dream of one day getting on a plane for the first time to fly to a Homeless World Cup to represent Cambodia.
"No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."
Edmund Burke, Irish orator, philosopher, & politician (1729 - 1797)
Thank you for your support.