The Hockey Masters Cup starts tomorrow at the National Hockey Centre in Auckland and continues until November 16.
The tournament has attracted 144 teams from around the world and the Gore district has two athletes heading to the competition.
Lynne Dickie will be representing the women’s over-60s team for New Zealand, her fifth time on the team.
Dickie said she was confident with a home-country advantage.
Because the tournament was self-funded, it could be hard to get players to travel internationally.
"The further away you go, you don’t get as strong of a team as opposed to when you play a bit closer."
During her time in the team, they had placed as high as third, and she cautiously believed in the team’s chances this year.
"I’d like to say great, but we have to score goals and keep the goals out.
"It’s such an unknown."
The team had prepared assiduously and had a dedicated coach and training camps.
"The coach I have is very thorough and comprehensive. We have Zoom meetings [and] two full training camps in Auckland for a weekend.
"At the camps we’re on the turf for seven or eight hours a day, going through plays."
Vince Aynsley is representing New Zealand for the over-50s masters team, his first time being selected.
Aynsley said he was excited to play for the team: "... I’m certainly looking forward to it. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a while".
Like Dickie, he had also been preparing for the tournament, going away for training — and also recruiting help from closer to home.
"We’ve done a couple training camps in Auckland and one in Palmerston North.
"I’m lucky my kids play so I’ve dragged them down to have a train, [and also] had some mates practise with me and train with me," he said.
