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Students from Asia, WA descend on Perth for Friendship Games

Children from several Asian countries and all over Western Australia have descended on Perth this weekend for the 2015 Friendship Games.

Delegates from China, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia have joined West Australians of all backgrounds for a week-long competition and cultural exchange.

The Games are the brainchild of ex-Wildcats basketballer Andrew Vlahov, who created the event to "encourage engagement and diplomacy with the next generation of leaders through sport".

"The language of sport is a beautiful thing and it's a great diplomatic thing," Mr Vlahov said.

"I'm a very firm believer that the better that we get to know our neighbours, the better that relationship will be diplomatically but in a trade sense as well."

Basketball, AFL, table tennis and badminton are among the eight sports taught and played at all skill levels over the course of the competition.

Attendees must adhere to a simple set of rules to participate in competition, including being a good sport and treat all team-mates and opponents as you expect being treated yourself.

"We are operating on old school principles where there is absolute respect for not only the officials out there, but for each other and for your opponent," he said.

"You're not going to stop kids being competitive, that's good, that's healthy, but the whole point of this is to create a friendly and safe environment."

The Friendship Games provide children with professional sporting facilities in which to play, with games being held between McGillivray Oval, HBF Stadium, and the new $43 million WA Basketball Centre.

"[It's] the best basketball facility in the southern hemisphere, it's state-of-the-art, and when you can give this sort of facility to kids, it doesn't get any better than that," Mr Vlahov said.

Also on the program for the young delegates is watching the professionals at work; they will attend both Wildcats and Perth Glory games during the week.