O RGANIZERS of the FCCC/Reebok Supercup '95 - a soccer league played between eight selected Phnom Penh high schools starting on Jan 14 - are confident that the tournament will capture the public imagination.
"My dream is to have the stadium full for the final, we could get 50,000 spectators," Foreign Correspondents' Club manager Jim Campbell said.
Campbell, a former part-time professional player in Scotland and Australia, said the league would give local school-aged youths something to strive for in sport, especially if the league becomes a regular seasonal fixture.
Expat coaches of the teams say their players are keen - regularly training by themselves for hours in a day, waiting for the "official" practice sessions. They were skillful and highly competitive.
New kit has been provided for each school by the FCCC through Reebok. It was a thrill for the players to be decked out in their schools new "colors". For most of them it was the first time being part of an organized, competitive sport, Campbell said.
Four games will be played each weekend at the Olympic Stadium. The top four teams will play off in semi-finals and the final will be held on April 9.
A representative team will be picked during the season, and Campbell said he would like to take the team on a tour of Hong Kong or Thailand.