The 53-year-old has waited more than 30 years for an opportunity to compete at one of croquet's biggest events.
But it looked like he was set to miss out again until a team member pulled out late last month.
The Dunedin radiation therapist will pack his trusty mallet and head to the United States, where he will, hopefully, help New Zealand defend the highly prized MacRobertson Shield in April.
It will be the first time he has competed at the event. He was a reserve for the New Zealand team that won the title in 1986 but did not get the call-up.
''I guess it is regarded, for our country, as the pinnacle of the sport and for me it is an honour to be playing in it,'' he said.
''The team got announced last year and they were deciding on naming some reserves after the New Zealand Open in January. But one of the team decided he was not playing well enough and pulled out and I got bumped up.''
Shilling has played international croquet before and represented his country at the World Croquet Federation's tournament at Adelaide in 2012. There were 80 players in the tournament and he finished in the top 32.
He got his start in the sport as a 17-year-old and, other than forced injury breaks, has not been able to put the mallet down.
''I guess it is sort of addictive. It is quite challenging and I guess when you get reasonably good at it and get good results, you want to continue and do better.
''I did stop for a while. In the early 2000s I had arthritis issues and could not hold a mallet for a while.''
Shilling is in good touch, having reached the semifinals at the nationals in Mt Maunganui last month. He was also runner-up at the North Island championships in October.
Shilling plays for the Punga Croquet Club in Dunedin and has previously described the game as ''snooker on grass''.
New Zealand, Australia, England and the United States will contest the MacRobertson Shield, which is being staged near Palm Springs, in California.
