The New Zealand women’s curling team leaves on Sunday to compete in the international women’s curling championships in Sweden.
They will be leaving behind family, jobs and large holes in their bank accounts.
Team skip Jess Smith, of Invercargill, said the team qualified for the competition at the Pan Continental Championship in Canada at the end of last year after winning the New Zealand women’s title.
Countries from the Asia-Pacific region as well as North and South America competed in the Pan Continental contest and the New Zealand team qualified for the world championships by finishing in the top five.
Vice-skipper Holly Thompson, of Taihape, said it was the first time a New Zealand women’s team had qualified to compete for the world title.
There would be 13 women’s teams competing, the top five from Pan Continental and eight from Europe.
Twelve round-robin games followed by playoffs would make for a big week.
It was their first time playing with the "best of the best" and it was hard to predict how they would go.
As a minority sport and this being its first time on the world stage, the team had struggled to get funding, Smith said.
"We probably have to prove ourselves before we end up getting funding. So ... it comes out of our back pockets."
They had done a lot of fundraising from hosting events at the Maniototo International Curling rink in Naseby, to running raffles and selling pies.
They had benefited from fundraising led by New Zealand Curling.
But with airfares to Sweden just under $4000 each, on top of the $2500 each to go to Canada to qualify, as well as accommodation, transport, meals and training costs in Scotland on the way to the world contest, their dedication could not be faulted.
"We’ve done about everything you can think of," Thompson said.
The New Zealand men’s team, which also qualified for the world championships, leaves next week.
