The Dunedin Technical Lions are preparing to head to Tokyo, where they will play in the under-12 junior soccer world challenge - a tournament featuring teams from both Barcelona and Arsenal.
It is a prestigious tournament for which many top Japanese teams compete to qualify, alongside several from overseas.
Having had plenty of success locally, the team got invited to the tournament after it made contact with the organisers following its win at last year's Christchurch international cup.
It was something the touring party of 47 - which includes coaches, medical staff and family as well as players - was looking forward to.
Head coach Joe Cole said the main purpose of the trip was to ascertain the team's level compared with overseas talent.
''We're going over there to see what the level is like and that's our major goal,'' he said.
''Can we do what we've done against teams here over there and adapt to the faster-paced play and the different styles that are going to be on offer over there? That's our major goal.''
The team has been operating a high-level academy and made great strides when Spanish coach Christian Donaire was brought in to observe the team last year.
He is now highly involved in coaching the team remotely from Spain and has regular Skype sessions with Cole.
His biggest influence has been in teaching the players to make decisions themselves and figure out how to solve problems quickly.
That had left them in good stead when it came to football.
The squad had players from both 11th and 12th grade sides and often played older teams.
Those teams could pose challenges, with bigger players, although Cole said the goal remained to keep sticking to the game plan and focus on decision-making.
The team had several games and training planned before leaving, along with haka practice and spending time in the heat chamber at the University of Otago, preparing for the 35degC temperatures in Japan.
It would head to Japan on August 18 and play a pre-tournament starting on August 22.
