The Cambodian Apsaras will square off against the visiting Saigon Gaels from Vietnam in their first ever women’s Aussie rules football game in Southeast Asia at the International School of Phnom Penh on Saturday.

The 1:30pm start will be preceded by a men’s contest between Cambodian Eagles and Vietnam Swans at 11am.

It was in 2016 that the Eagles introduced training sessions for women, which led to four players competing in the Asian Championships exhibition match in Ho Chi Minh City the same year.

On February 11, as many as 25 players showed up for the first training session leading to the formation of the women’s team. The players chose to call themselves Cambodian Apsaras with the team growing to 40, including expats and a majority of Khmer players from the charity A New Day Cambodia.

“Some of the girls were amazing, and even though they hadn’t played it before they definitely have natural talent,” said Carla Manson a member of the Cambodian Eagles board.