COLT and Andong battle it out on field for 3rd and 4th positions.

The third annual ISF U17 Boys League season 2014, which was launched on May 25th 2014, came to a close on Sunday 31st of August. The league is run with the purpose of allowing Cambodian youths to enjoy football opportunities through participation in the league competition and to help prevent them from getting involved in destructive social activities such as drugs or alcohol use.

A total number of 13 teams from partner organisations, schools and community groups competed, an increase on the 11 teams last year. Like last year, they played “Round Robin Qualifications with Elimination” and applied almost all FIFA rules, except free substitutions, making the competition even tougher.

The introduction of identity passes, instead of stamping, distinguished this year’s league from previous ones. By doing this, we could reduce the risk of age and identity falsification. This also helped make the games look and feel more professional and the whole league organisation run more smoothly. The passes will also help us to effectively run the 2014 –2015 Youth League beginning in November.

During round robin matches, teams pushed themselves to defeat their competitors in order to get ranked. They were training harder than ever to prepare for the games. Special mention goes to Group A where teams played incredibly close matches and the final ranking came down to the very last game.

Following 8 weeks of tough competition, the league reached the semi-finals with 2 top teams from each group competing for a place in the finals. EYC challenged COLT while Bong Paoun faced Andong in the semi-finals. After two tough matches, EYC beat COLT and booked a place for the final with Bong Paoun, who defeated Andong. In the finals COLT won the 3rd place and Bong Paoun ended up champions of the league.