Thousands of young soccer players and their families will brave a chilly week in Canberra to face off against teams from interstate and overseas.
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The Kanga Cup kicked off on Sunday with an under-12 boys match between the Belwest Wolves - a combination of the Belconnen team and their counterparts from Wollongong - and South Korea's Singok Football Club.
Billed as the largest international youth football tournament in the Southern Hemisphere, the five-day Kanga Cup will feature more than 1200 games across 63 fields.
About 8000 players from 380 teams will participate in the event. Seventy per cent of participants are from outside Canberra, with Thailand and New Zealand among those represented.
Capital Football chief executive Phil Brown said at least 10,000 people were brought to the capital during the tournament. The organisation has partnered with the ACT government on a cost-benefit analysis for the 2017 competition.
"It brings 380 teams in in a historically quiet time in the nation's capital when it's a bit cold and we've got school holidays and people go away, so we're able to put on a tournament that brings in people to be able to fill the restaurants and cafes and local attractions in a time that would be typically quiet," he said.
"It also brings for us and our teams an opportunity to test themselves against their peers, not just interstate but internationally as well, so not an opportunity they would get easily anywhere else."
Chifley man George Frilingos watched the opening match with his "football-crazy" family, including 11-year-old son Johnny, who plays for Marist.
"It puts Canberra centre stage for football and I think it's going to keep growing, personally," he said.
"It's a great opportunity for kids to play at a higher level to see what else is out there and what standard of football is being played throughout Australia because there's heaps of Australian teams this year as well."
Ben Naughton, of Flynn, will duck out of work this week to watch nine-year-old daughter Bronte and 11-year-old son Asher on the field. As well, Mr Naughton organises referees for Belwest, and will support them during the cup.
"I'll get out a couple of times through the week and watch my kids and also go and see the referees referee and check on them and make sure they're OK," he said.
The Kanga Cup, which ends Friday, has run for 27 years.
