Marc Arcuri was only 15 years old when he died playing the game he loved in Sydney's southwest.
He complained of feeling unwell during a match, and collapsed and died shortly after.
"ARVC: arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. I don't think I'll ever forget that," his mother Sue told SBS News.
"There are no symptoms, he was a very healthy, strong 15-year-old boy. And this just came out of the blue.
"Sadly for a lot of families ... there are no warnings signs until it's fatal," she said. And the condition isn't as rare as cardiologists once thought.
"Increasingly we're recognising it, and increasingly we're recognising it in this population of people who have symptoms during sport," cardiologist Professor Garry Jennings said.
It was July 2014 when the condition snatched Marc away from his family.
"Marc was very fit and healthy, I thought," his dad Denis said.
"Never had a problem, no doctors ... It was definitely a shock to the family, that's for sure."
After his death, family and friends formed the Marc Arcuri Foundation and created the Marc Arcuri Cup.
The annual football tournament aims to raise money to be able to donate a defibrillator to every sporting ground in New South Wales, so anyone who experiences life-threatening heart problems on the pitch can be helped.
The first tournament in 2014 raised $6,500 to buy three defibrillators. But that was just the start.
"We've donated more than 50 so far," cup committee member Daniel Arcuri said.
"We've raised over $100,000 in the first three years we did it, and we want to beat that this year and get over $100,000 in our fourth year altogether.
Each defibrillator costs about $2,500 each.
It's a small price to pay for increasing the chance of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest from less than five per cent, to closer to 70 per cent.
Every minute without defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by 10 per cent. And, they're easy to use.
"There's a bit of a feeling out there that I'm going to do something wrong, I'm going to make the situation worse," Royal Life Saving's Ben Cottee said.
"They're quite technical, but they're also built with fail-safes, so you can't make the situation any worse than it already is."
One defibrillator donated by the foundation has already saved a life.
Ian Rae suffered a heart attack while playing football in Sydney's north in April this year.
Cardiologists said the 64-year-old wouldn't have survived if it were not for the defibrillator they had donated.
"The event that happened to our family was obviously shocking," Marc's brother Adam said.
"But to have that prevented, and giving a loved one back to a family is massive for us.
The first 2014 cup consisted of 12 teams, mostly made up of friends and family. But this year's tournament on 6-7 October will feature 88 teams.
Games will be played at one of Australia's most famous football grounds: Marconi Stadium in south-western Sydney.
"It's amazing, it is, it's humbling for us," dad Denis said.
"We think about it, I think about it at night, and think wow, that's crazy."
"Not a day goes by when we don't miss Marc," mum Sue said.
"But events like the cup, bring us all together."
