The 16 make up the elite group in the Football Mad Football School which has been run for the last two years by Terry Parle.
The school seeks to improve the skills and techniques of children playing junior football.
The high-performance training programme is being run by Luiz Uehara, a PhD student at the University of Otago's School of Physical Education.
Uehara (39), who played semi-professional football in Brazil and Japan, has been studying in Dunedin since 2002 but says his expertise was not wanted by Footballsouth.
"I was disappointed with the whole system here and just focused on my studies," he said.
"There are a lot of knowledgeable people at the PE School but we have not been invited to help," Uehara said.
"Why does local football not use this resource?"An eager parent encouraged Uehara to get involved in the local scene by training the elite 16 in an 18-session programme from October to December.
It will be continued from January to March.
"We need to start the development programme when the players are young," Uehara said.
"The kids here don't train or play enough. Our programme is for players who want to become professionals."
He will not just be developing players' motor and physical skills.
"It is a holistic approach," Uehara said.
"The decision-making skills are just as important. We want to develop players who are clever enough to play."
Brazil does not have one centralised form of training directed by the Brazilian Football Association.
"All clubs and coaches learn and improve their coaching skills from many different sources, as well as from their own experience," Uehara said.
The aim is to develop skilful, fast and strong players who can think quickly and be as creative as possible.
"Brazilian coaches train their players with a variety of fun games, using different types of equipment," Uehara said.
"They play on different fields and ground surfaces.
"They play beach football, street football, foot volley and mini-games.
"Research shows that playing under different conditions with differing rules and tasks helps in the development of motor and decision-making skills."
Uehara has extensive international coaching experience and took part in the professional and youth training programmes of several professional teams in Brazil, including the Sao Paulo club.
He has coached in Japan for several years and many of his youth players have become J-League professional players. Some have represented Japan.
Uehara has an international football coaching licence from Brazil and Japan and is the first Fifa-recognised player agent licensed by New Zealand Football.
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