The national under-21 tournament actually got under way last weekend, with games scattered throughout the country.
But the remaining games are all being staged in Dunedin from Sunday through to Saturday.
Both the Southern men's and women's teams suffered losses to Canterbury during their opening fixtures.
Despite those setbacks, both coaches remain optimistic.
Southern men's coach Gabriel Rawcliffe is targeting a top-four finish but making the final might be a stretch.
The structure of the tournament has shifted from a pool-based competition to a full round robin with the top two teams going on to contest the final.
"We've got a good team,'' Rawcliffe said.
"We've got a lot of guys returning from last year and a few guys who had national league experience last year, so that is more experience than we've had in the past.''
While Southern's 4-1 loss to Canterbury sounds disappointing, it was closer than the scoreline suggests.
Late in the game Southern had a penalty corner to tie the game 2-2 but Canterbury kept it out and went the length of the field to score.
Southern pulled its goalie in desperation with three minutes to go and Canterbury managed to add a fourth.
"It ended up blowing out in the last few minutes but it was actually a really close game for 95% of it. They were just too clinical at finishing off, I suppose.''
Southern plays Capital, the defending champion, on Sunday.
The teams met in a warm-up game which Southern won, so Rawcliffe hopes his side can start the tournament week with a win and get some momentum.
Southern has a promising core of players.
Goalie Jack Waddell is in good form and defensively the home side should be well served by Johnny Thorn and Josh Smith.
Up front, Kieran O'Connor is in charge of putting the ball in the net and 16-year-old Malachi Buschl is making the step up at centre-half.
Southern women's coach Ben Varkalis can also rely on a useful spine of players.
Goalkeeper Ginny Wilson has experience with the junior and future Black Sticks and is highly-regarded. Sisters Maddi and Neve McLean will be players to watch as well.
Maddi is a very gifted midfielder and Neve is the team's best striker.
Exciting attacking midfielder Mattea Harris has added much value to the team since moving to Dunedin for university.
"The depth is stronger in the side this year,'' Varkalis said.
"I feel like all of them will hold their own at this tournament.
"We will be making sure that we are ready at every opportunity to try and force results and see where we end up when it has all be tallied up at the end of the week.''
The Southern women also plays Capital on Sunday and will be confident after beating it 3-1 during a warm-up match.
