"I go down to the training on a Monday night and you can have anything close to 45-50 Cambodian players down there," says Sheehan, who has worked as an English language teacher in Phnom Penh for eight years.

"I'm walking into that and knowing they're not language students or anything like that, they're there to kick a leather ball around a field - something my brothers and sisters and my father were doing growing up in Ireland.

"Seeing it unfold before your eyes here, it still really blows my mind."

It didn't take long for Cairde Khmer to start making waves in the region.

In 2019, the men won both the Asian Gaelic Games and South Asian Gaelic Games in the junior category, while the women reached the final of the latter tournament.

Last year, both teams, with Cambodian players now easily outnumbering their Irish ex-pat team-mates, were runners-up at the 2022 Asian Gaelic Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The women caused an upset against a strong Thai side in the semi-final, scoring a goal in the dying seconds.

"The referee blew the whistle and I dropped to my knees and started bawling my eyes out crying," Sheehan says. "I've never felt anything like that on any field."

Off the back of those performances, Cairde Khmer were invited to the GAA World Games in Derry, Northern Ireland, in July. The club are raising funds for the trip.

"It's like going to play the World Cup in England," says Phanouch, who often watches Irish Gaelic football matches on YouTube.

"We will be meeting the real people in Gaelic sport, getting a real authentic experience - talking to legends and superstars in the sport, the Lionel Messi's of Gaelic football. I cannot wait to talk and learn more about the sport and its origins."

Phanouch says Gaelic football is giving many of the team the chance to travel the world in ways that would never have been possible before.

"It gives them a lifetime experience - some of them would not have been able to go abroad.

"They would not have a chance to visit Thailand, Malaysia or Vietnam," Phanouch says, let alone Ireland.

Phanouch recently graduated from university and is working in business development at a sports resort in Thailand. He credits Cairde Khmer with helping broaden his horizons.

"Even me, I would never have thought about going abroad or making money," he says. "But it taught us to go out and learn more about the world. This is what this sport has taught us."

Despite being discouraged from playing football as a child, Sreypov says her family are now impressed by her achievements in the Gaelic form of the sport.

"With Cambodian parents, if the kid can get to travel to another country, they are already proud. They don't say anything about me playing football any more," she says, adding that she has introduced the game to her boyfriend.

Ava is regularly the top scorer at tournaments and is eagerly looking forward to the prospect of playing in the home of Gaelic football later this year.

But the sport has given her a lot more than accolades on the field.

"The positive part is meeting new people outside," she says. "It makes me feel more relaxed and light. It makes me feel less lonely."