Albury-Wodonga’s Rhyce Hore, Brodie Porta, Tobias Walsh and Jay Barker, along with Wangaratta’s Kai Lyster have been selected in Football Federation Victoria’s (FFV) 34-player regional squad for next month’s trip.

They will fly out on August 14 for eight days after only finding out about the news last week.

As the region is yet to set up its own technical academy for junior players, the boys have travelled to various trials around the state, including Geelong and Gippsland to be selected for the under 13s and under 14s teams.

From the seven boys from the region that trialled, Walsh was the only player from the region to make the under 14s team, while Porta, Hore, Lyster and Barker will all play in the under 13s.

Barker’s call-up is particularly impressive as he is just 11 years of age playing in an under 13s competition. 

His step-father Cam McCormack said it will be a challenge for Jay and his teammates who will need to also embrace the Japanese culture.

“It's been explained to us by Football Federation Victoria that it's not just about learning the professionalism of football, but also the cultural experiences of Japan,” McCormack said.

“If they made the squad and weren’t willing to eat Japanese food, there’s no point in coming because there will be no food for them.

“They stay at a school for four days in Fuji and the school has got 20 soccer fields.

“They then go to a village for four days and play in a tournament there against local kids.

“FFV is trying to create new opportunities and this could be the last year of national championships as such because each of that states are looking at doing this sort of thing.

“I think there will be a lot more opportunities for locals in the NPL system to do these sort of things.

“To have five from here out of a squad of 34 from right across regional Victoria is an awesome effort.”

And none of them have learnt any Japanese at school before.

“Everything is going to be completely foreign to them,” McCormack said.

“The school has done a lot of things with Australian schools already, so I think English would be taught there which might help our kids a little bit.

“It's going to be a massive culture shock to them when they get there, but an experience they're never going to forget.”

All five boys will play 16 games in eight days, with the biggest challenge set to be the conditions.

“It's the middle of summer there, so they'll be playing most of their games in the late afternoon and evening,” McCormack.

“That's going to be a massive thing coming from this weather into summer.”

In a bid to help fund their trip, the boys will host a trivia night on Saturday at Wodonga Golf Club.