The International Woodball Federation (IWbF) is seeking the cooperation of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) and other relevant parties to establish a national Woodball federation in Cambodia, with the goal of developing the sport in preparation for a Cambodian team to take part in future international events such as the SEA Games and Asian Beach Games.
The plan to set up a Woodball federation in Cambodia was brought forward by Mr. IWF president Sean Chi-Hsiang Weng and Aang Sunadji, president of the Indonesia Woodball Federation paid a courtesy call on Senior Minister Thong Khon, president of NOCC, at NOCC headquarters this morning, July 22.
During the meeting, Sean presented the history and development of Woodball, which was invented in Chinese Taipei in 1990. The sport began as a simple lawn game playable in small spaces, where players use a wooden mallet to strike a ball through gate-like fairways set up on a course or lawn.
Over time, it gained popularity and saw growing development. Today, the IWbF has 45 national member federations around the world, including six Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Sean noted that Woodball was officially recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) in 1999 and has already been featured in the Asian Beach Games five times. Moreover, Woodball will be included for the first time in the 33rd SEA Games, which will be hosted by Thailand later this year.
He expressed the IWbF’s intention to use the sports momentum to expand into Cambodia. He exchanged ideas and sought input from Khon on how to move forward with the creation of a national federation.
Khon warmly welcomed the initiative, expressing appreciation for the IWbF’s interest in Cambodia and its engagement with NOCC. He encouraged further collaboration between the two parties toward the goal of establishing Woodball in Cambodia.
Speaking on behalf of NOCC, committee advisor Buy Sophan explained that the purpose of this discussion was to explore the creation of a national Woodball federation in Cambodia, with the goal of enabling participation in international events like the SEA Games and Asian Beach Games — especially since the sport is officially recognized by the OCA.
“Thong Khon has proposed that the International Woodball Federation support Cambodia in terms of training, athlete development and capacity building for coaches and officials, in preparation for establishing a national federation that could enable Cambodia to participate in the 34th SEA Games in Malaysia in 2027. Notably, the sport will be included for the first time in the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand at the end of 2025,” he said.
