The trio will travel to Burma to represent the New Zealand under-21 side at the Southeast Asian championships later this month.
The details are a little scratchy, as you might expect with an exotic location such as Burma.
The country has not exactly been a tourist hot spot. Since the '60s the reclusive state has largely been under military rule of some type and was not open to foreign visitors until 1992.
The relationship between Burma and the West has thawed in recent years but Ma'ia'i (18) told the Otago Daily Times they really did not know what to expect during the next two and a-half weeks.
"We're pretty excited about it," Ma'ia'i said.
"It is a relatively undiscovered country for Europeans because it was closed off for quite a while. So it will be pretty cool to experience it and I don't think many sports teams go there.
"We went on the internet and couldn't find much information at all."
The tournament will be held in Burma's largest city, Rangoon, and the New Zealand team will play sides from Vietnam, Iran, Laos, Thailand and the home side.
Ma'ia'i will captain the team and he plays in the middle of the court. It is his role to block and spike the ball, while Velebit plays in the libero position, which is largely a defensive role.
Hobson also plays in the middle of the court alongside Ma'ia'i.
The New Zealand under-21 team usually competes in the Asian championships but that is in Iran this year and was going to be too expensive.
Under-21 men's squad
Charlie Clague, Jackson Gregory, Thomas Heijs, Mitchell Hobson, Talor Kahu, Chase Kennedy, Tyler Latuila, Max Longdill, Leni Ma'ia'i, Lachie Pollock, Junior Taia, Mitchell Tierney, Danya Tulou, Luka Velebit, Levi Walters.
