Located on the on the upper north shore of Sydney and competing in the Northern Suburbs Football Association, St Ives Football Club has been around for a long-time and are set for a return to the Kanga Cup.

First formed as St Ives Soccer Club in 1957, one of the founders and earliest presidents was Australia’s first soccer broadcaster, Martin Royal. Mr. Royal was well known for his work in telecasting the ANZAC Day March in Sydney for the ABC.

“What was soccer at St Ives like in those early days?” Stephen Polczynski Manager Under 12 St. Ives Eagles Kanga Cup 2025, asked rhetorically. “Well, it must have been very genteel.

“One lady who was around in those days recounts that there was a ‘Tea Club’ whose function was to serve afternoon tea during All Age matches on Saturday afternoon. It conjures up more of an image of social cricket on the English village green rather than soccer, doesn’t it?”

St. Ives hasn’t recently competed in the Kanga Cup, being absent from the Southern Hemisphere’s largest Youth football Tournament for several years, but they will make the return trip to Canberra this July with some family connections to the veritable old competition.

I have an older son, who’s now 24, who played in the tournament when he was 11-14 (with other clubs) and we really enjoyed it,” Polczynski recalled.

“When heading to the snow last year we stopped for a night in Canberra and my 12-year-old boy asked what all the young footballers were doing, and I told him it was the Kanga Cup, and he said he would love to do it. So here we are.”

St. Ives are looking forward to everything that goes with being part of the Kanga Cup but would love to come away with the trophy if fortune were to favour them over the five-days of action across the playing fields of the national capital.

“We have some amazing Brazilian coaches, we play nice football, and we would like to win the Cup,” Polczynski revealed. “Most of though we are looking forward to the team bonding, seeing their friendship develop (they have fun) and parents and experiencing a week of football.

“ We will see the sights enjoy the restaurants and try to stay warm! Overall, we are looking to the togetherness and having kids working together on the field and parents, coaches and managers working together to create a really enjoyable week.”