The Futsal Whites will this weekend create history when they compete in the Futsal World Cup for the first time after eight previously unsuccessful qualification campaigns.
Hawkins, who plays football for the Dunedin City Royals and futsal for Southern United, is an integral member of the team and is jumping out of his skin to get going in Uzbekistan.
"I’m super excited," Hawkins told the Otago Daily Times.
"It’s the pinnacle of futsal, and it’s been about a seven-year journey that the team’s been on, so I think everyone’s excited to get here and compete against the best players in the world.
"Being on the other side of the world and playing in New Zealand, we don’t get that opportunity a lot. We want to test ourselves against the best players and see if we can get a victory."
The Futsal Whites have been done no favours by the World Cup organisers.
New Zealand, ranked 19th in the world, are in group D with world No3 Spain and No8 Kazakhstan along with No50 Libya.
"We’ve got two super high-quality teams from Europe, which will be difficult games," Hawkins said.
"We’re targeting Libya, which is our first game. The hope is if we can beat them and scratch a result against one of the other teams, we can try to make our way through to the round of 16."
Hawkins, 23, is an exceptional midfielder in football but his focus in the past couple of years has been polishing his futsal skills.
The small-sided indoor version of the beautiful game was much faster and more technical, and left you with less time on the ball, he said.
"There are lots of crossover elements, obviously, that help with both games, particularly being able to play in tight spaces, and also having quite a bit of awareness with people coming at you from all directions."
Hawkins is joined in the squad by former Mosgiel footballer Rahan Ali, who now plays futsal for an Australian club. Marvin Eakins is the head coach.
The Futsal Whites are initially based in Andijan, and the Uzbekistan welcoming mat has been out.
"We’re kind of treated like celebrities over here. People are coming up for photos and asking for autographs, we had big welcomes off the plane and at hotels, and we get police escorts everywhere.
"Andijan is lovely so far. It’s warm and the people seem really nice, and the facilities are excellent."
New Zealand play Libya (Sunday 10pm NZ time) and Spain (Thursday 3am) in Andijan before heading to Tashkent to play Kazakhstan on September 22.
All games are live on Fifa+.
The Futsal Ferns have matched the men’s efforts and will make their inaugural appearance at the Women’s World Cup next year.
