​Cambodia And Vietnam Faced Off In A Landmark First Women's AFL Game

Barely an hour after the Adelaide Crows made history by winning the first AFLW premiership on Saturday, the sport's history was also being forged in the most unlikely place: Cambodia.

The newly formed Cambodian Apsaras took on the Vietnamese Gaels in the first AFLW game in Asia and while the Apsaras walked away defeated, scoring one goal to Vietnam's 31 points, their journey was nothing short of an achievement.

The Apsaras, named after the female deities that decorate the temples of Angkor, was chosen by the players themselves.

Training only began six weeks before their match against Vietnam, thanks to the help of the well-established Cambodian Eagles men's football team, who are sponsored by their Australian namesakes in Perth.

Australian-born Carla Mason, a board member on the Eagle's team, used the launch of the AFLW league back in Oz to springboard momentum to build up Cambodia's own female side, in a country where female social sports are a rarity.

"I've been involved with the footy club for a while, I used to play footy for a while and was a personal trainer," she said in February.

"I wrote a letter to the president of the club and said that 'I know you're going to kick off the women's club season this year, would you be interested in me running it?'"

"He replied straight back saying yes."

When Neat Khin, saw her boyfriend play for the Cambodian Eagles last year, she thought it was nothing short of ludicrous.

With its extensive running, strange, egg-shaped ball and brutal tackles, it seemed like a sport that would lead to injuries. "The first time I saw it, I didn't like the look of it because it looks dangerous.

"They run all the time so they might have problems with their knees or shoulders," she said at the start of training.

However with the encouragement of her boyfriend and a few handballing sessions in their home, resulting in some broken light bulbs, her interest in the sport began to grow.

While at first she found it difficult between her job and night classes to make time for the sport, Khin later began to relish the fast-paced and agile nature of the game.

When she had the chance to play the game in a mixed gender team alongside Australian Hannah Slaughter at the Asian Champs league last October, she took the leap.

Now she and Slaughter captain the Apsaras and the pair worked furiously with their newly formed team, training two to three times a week, to prepare them for their clash with Vietnam.

"Neat and I were all alone from October onwards, training just with us and the boys until we got enough momentum going to get the girls team started and then when the word got out it blew up," Slaughter said.

The first training session exceeded everyone's expectations, with 25 girls showing up, more than half of whom were Khmer - most had never held a football in their life.

"I wasn't expecting such eagerness from the girls, at first they were quite tentative, because it was a completely new sport," Slaughter said.

"But now they've kind of embraced it and they're so into it."

Slaughter laughs about the first few training sessions when the Khmer girls were shocked about the intensity of a full contact sport like AFL.

"I remember the first time we showed them a tackle, they were like 'oh my god' because it's a contact sport which is way out of their headspace and then after the initial shock, their eyes lit up and so now when we do tackling practice, they are just all in," she said.

Saturday's game was a huge testament to the commitment the girls have given.

While the Apsaras had the numbers, the Vietnamese Gaels, a team comprised almost entirely of expatriates, had more experience and had the physical dominance to overpower the Cambodians.

Yet that didn't stop the Apsaras going all out, chasing after the Gaels with an intensity that made Coach Peter Kokke proud.

"Obviously the Vietnamese were a lot more drilled, and that's something we'll have to work on, but I couldn't be prouder," he said after Saturday's game.

Even Khin, who was injured that morning after a motorbike crash on the way to the game, couldn't be held back, taking and receiving some serious tackles from the imposing Gaels.

"It was amazing, it's such a good feeling," she said after the game.

It was a feeling that couldn't help but be infectious when Cambodian player Koun Sreylak scored the team's first goal.

"It felt like the whole world was on fire," she said afterward, grinning ear to ear.

Despite their loss, the team's commitment seems to have only been strengthened by Saturday's game, with Mason attributing it to the strong social and community element they have instilled in the team.

"We have a lot of Khmer girls, mothers and daughters coming to train, we have another 7-8 Khmer girls just turning up because of the buzz," she said adding that it was a rare opportunity for girls to be involved in team-based social sports.

"A lot of Cambodian girls wouldn't have experienced that team element, it's not a traditional thing," she said.

However that didn't stop Khin's father, 60-year-old Pov Noy, coming to cheer her daughter on at Saturday's game, shouting and yelling with glee as he egged the Apsaras on.

"I'm shouting so much my voice is raw," he said among the 200 strong crowd who came to see history being made.

"It's so good that the girls have this opportunity."

With the team set to rematch the Vietnamese Gaels next month and interest in the sport stronger than ever, it seems like the opportunity for more Cambodians to become involved in AFLW will only become greater.

For Khin, it is an interest that has consumed her in the best way possible.

"I watch sometimes on my phone when they have a new video from Australia. I like to watch sometimes before I go to sleep and my boyfriend asks me 'what are you watching?'" she said with a laugh.