Director of football Ben Sippola is not letting a long criteria list stop the club from daring to dream.
Wanaka have earned a spot in the Southern League after beating Waimakariri United in a playoff series.
"It’s almost like a bit bittersweet," Sippola said.
"It’s amazing to qualify for that level of football. But the higher the level that you qualify for, the more challenges that you actually give yourself in a very challenging landscape."
Wanaka, who were awarded the playoff spot after finishing second in the Southern Premier League when winners Mosgiel declined, still have several boxes to tick under the New Zealand Football criteria to join the league.
They require two additional C-licensed coaches, including a goalkeeper coach, to work alongside Sippola and technical director Thomas van Hees.
Licensing rules also require Wanaka to have a reserve team, playing in a competition below the Southern League, alongside their youth team.
"You can imagine a little club like us having three teams each week travelling to Dunedin, Christchurch, Invercargill, as far as Nelson ... I don’t want to put up barriers, but it’s just a very logistical challenge," Sippola said.
Their biggest "Achilles heel" is the lack of changing rooms.
They have been reliant on using council services at the swimming pool.
Sippola, who was the chief executive and technical director of Ole Football Academy in Wellington, acknowledged it was not ideal, but did not want to play home games in Queenstown.
"That was a suggestion, but that would just eat away at the fabric of the club."
There were smaller requirements, such as electronic scoreboards and announcing systems, but Sippola was confident they could reach their goals.
"I’m not even worried so much about the criteria to make the league.
"I think we would tick all those boxes. It’s more just making sure that we get the funding internally."
He did not want to raise costs that impacted their grassroots players, or stakeholders, and was hunting for someone in the Central Otago community who had a "philanthropic" desire to give back to sport.
The buzz around Wanaka football, home to 550 members, had been "the coolest thing ever", Sippola said.
"I really hope we can pull it off. The goal of the club is to have a team in this league, but we just didn’t realise it would happen so fast."
His main focus remained on the young players and giving them a chance to play Southern League.
"There’s this mindset in Wanaka that our kids aren’t capable. But the Wanaka child has just as much potential as the kids from Auckland, or Wellington, as long as the environment is in place.
"That’s what gets me excited ... and that’s why the Southern League is such a cool endeavour because it gives you that beacon at the top that’s aspirational."
Southern Football chief executive Dougal McGowan said it was a great opportunity for Wanaka, and having another team join the Dunedin City Royals added depth to the South.
Southern Football would be working alongside Wanaka to help them qualify.
"It gives a real boost for that whole district that there’s that great aspiration pathway there," McGowan said.
"We’ve just got to make sure that we help them to get those last little bits to make it get through."
