Southern footballers Josh Dykstra and James McGarry have been named in a preliminary All Whites under-20 squad to play in the World Cup later this month.
Dykstra, a goalkeeper, who went to King's High School, is at present playing in Auckland for Forest Hill, while McGarry is a professional with the Phoenix side in Wellington.
The duo make up a 30-man squad that will be trimmed to a 21-man squad next week to travel to the World Cup in South Korea.
Of the 30 players selected, 12 come from overseas clubs, academies or universities, while another six are tied up with the Phoenix academy.
Only one player - defender Sean Liddicoat, of the Coastal Spirit club in Christchurch - has been selected out of club in the South Island.
McGarry was schooled in his early years in Dunedin but moved to the Asia Pacific Football Academy in Christchurch when he was in his middle school years and has been away from Dunedin for six years.
Dykstra was educated in Dunedin but left the city at the end of 2015 to move to Auckland.
That leads to the question of whether players can stay in Dunedin and make it to a national team, even at a junior level.
Football South football development manager and Southern United coach Paul O'Reilly said weight of numbers and larger population bases have always meant more players from those areas make national teams.
''I still think you can make it from down here but it is the weight of the population in other areas which is always going to mean players from those areas dominate,'' he said.
''You look at any sport over time; it has always been that way. That doesn't mean we are not trying and we have been working hard.''
O'Reilly pointed to the planned artificial turf at Logan Park as a sign of progress in the game and Football South was also offering scholarships to keep young promising players in the region.
''We are encouraging players to stay here and they can prosper in their home environment.''
Young Roslyn-Wakari striker Ben Kiore had been in the picture for the side about 12 months ago but injury scuttled any hopes.
He broke his toe and has now broken his arm and will not be sighted on a football paddock for at least six weeks. Former Kavanagh College footballer Ben O'Farrell, who was a chance to make the junior squad, has gone overseas.
O'Reilly said another way to get players improving and therefore getting into contention for national sides was to have a South Island-wide league, which would raise playing standards.
This idea had been thrown around for many years but cost and commitments had always stood in the way of its formation.
It used to exist many years ago before finances, or the lack of them, ended it.
