Most sportsmen go to the United States to get better at certain sports - basketball, athletics or, at a pinch, a shot at a baseball career.
But Sione Palaa is off to the land of the free and Walmart to improve his rugby.
That sounds like sending a Russian ballerina to a finishing school in Matarau or an ice hockey player to the Sahara but for the North Otago Rugby Football Union it is just another way to improve the sport in its region.
Former St Kevin's College first XV member Palaa, who played for the North Otago under-18 side last year, is now on a scholarship provided by the North Otago union to study in the United States.
Palaa, who grew up in North Otago and is a promising prop, is studying at Life University in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States.
Palaa (18) is on a three-year scholarship provided by the union and is studying sports science, and arrived in the United States last month.
Though it may seem somewhat left field in dispatching a young promising rugby player from heartland New Zealand to the United States, North Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive Colin Jackson said that was not the case.
Life University had a background in rugby and was the college's main sport, he said.
''Plus we looked at this as not just a purely rugby thing. They had to be pretty good academically, too,'' Jackson said.
He declined to say how much it was costing to fund the scholarship although he did say it was significant.
Private sponsorship was paying for the scholarship.
Palaa was recommended by St Kevin's College first XV coach Justin Fowler and was thrilled to have the opportunity, Jackson said.
Life University was the national college champion in rugby last year in the United States and its head coach is Dan Payne, the assistant coach for the United States national side.
It is not a massive university but is a world leader in chiropractic studies.
Jackson and union chairman Bill Dean had travelled to the United States and Canada last year to help build relationships with rugby groups and sides.
That should lead to players from Canada and the United States coming to North Otago this winter to play, Jackson said.
''We can't survive unless we look to bolster our club sides and if they are good enough, to get them into the North Otago side. We have only got 200 senior club players in North Otago.
''If we can show our young guys some sort of pathway in their rugby and how they can improve then that can only be a good thing.''
Jackson was heading to Canada later this week to tie up some more relationships. He said there would only be a couple of players heading to North Otago from Canada.
''The United States and Canada are sleeping giants as far as rugby is concerned. We have connections with the United Kingdom but it is always good to look at other avenues.''
As well as Palaa heading to the United States, North Otago players Robbie Smith and Chris Talanoa were playing for the Luton club outside London for three months.
Smith, a halfback, played for the Southern club in Dunedin but was a player of origin for the North Otago team, while Talanoa was a leading try-scorer for North Otago last season.
North Otago, which has six senior club teams, was a finalist in the Heartland competition last season, losing to Mid Canterbury in the final.
