Soccer, football, the world game, the round ball game - whatever you call it, the sport is a universal language.
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The Bhutanese-Australian community harnesses the widespread love of the sport as a way of connecting its vast diaspora spread across the country, uniting for a week-long national championship in Launceston.
Ten teams of boys and three teams of girls are competing at Churchill Park, including three teams from Adelaide, two from Cairns, a team from Albury-Wodonga and four from Tasmania.
The event has been held since 2012, rotating between cities with large Bhutanese populations.
Organising committee member Dilip Pradhan said the championships were a way of ensuring younger generations could connect with the wider community, with soccer being a unifying influence.
"We organised the soccer because this is one of the sports events that can connect all generations, from young to old," he said.
"We lived for nearly 20 years in a camp, and after we come here we are living so far apart from each other.
"This is a good place and a good way to reconnect and talk with the younger generation about our story and our history, so we all get a chance to meet again and say 'hi, hello'."
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For the first time, the annual championship has incorporated a multicultural badminton tournament inviting people from other cultures to take part.
The badminton tournament is being held at the UTAS Unigym in Newnham.
This is the second time Launceston has been the venue for the soccer championships.
The teams compete in a round robin-style tournament before eight teams progress to the quarter finals when it becomes a knockout tournament, with matches occurring over five days.
Kaman Singh Monger said it was about more than just sport, however.
"It is a way of bringing our community, all people and sports lovers, together so that they can be exposed to each other more," he said.
"The badminton means we can meet with other communities here too.
"Everyone is welcome, it's for every cultural community."
Last year, the Nepalese Bhutanese community celebrated 10 years since the first four families arrived in Launceston from refugee camps in Nepal.
Since then, the local community has grown to more than 1500 people.