Futsal South coach Darren Hart is not sure what to expect from his charges this season.
The team reached the semifinals last year but was knocked out by eventual champion Mainland Futsal.
However, with so many changes to the line-up, this year feels like a step into the unknown, he said.
''We've had two or three people leave ... and traditionally there has always been a few Brazilians playing for us from Queenstown,'' Hart said.
''But this year there has been some rule changes and, for the moment, they can't play for us.
''We're hoping to have them on board for the second series but they have to have played a certain amount of games for a team in an official league and Queenstown does not have an official league.
''It is not like they are not playing. It is just there is no official league in that region.''
That means star player Carlos Hermann will miss the open series in Napier later this week.
''He basically played professionally when he was younger, or semi-professionally, in Brazil before he came over here and is probably one of the best technical players in the whole league.''
To get around the rules, Hart said Futsal South was working on setting up a ''small league in that area to meet the eligibility criteria for the next series''.
Futsal South's opening game is against Northern Futsal on Friday afternoon.
The team has a short turnaround with a game against Waikato Bay of Plenty later that evening.
On Saturday, it plays Central Futsal Hawkes Bay and Mainland Futsal followed by a game against Capital on Sunday morning.
Series two is in Wellington in mid-November and Auckland hosts series three and the finals in December.
Hart said Auckland and Capital shaped as the teams to beat this season, while Mainland is in a similar position to Futsal South in the sense it is in a rebuilding phase.
Hart felt it would be disappointing if his side did not reach the semifinals.
Futsal National League
Napier, Oct 30 to Nov 1
Futsal South's draw
Oct 30: v Northern Futsal
Oct 30: v WaiBoP Futsal
Oct 31: v Central Futsal Hawkes Bay
Oct 31: v Mainland Futsal
Nov 1: v Capital Futsal
Futsal South team
Chris Sannum, Fraser Hunter, Michael Sannum, Tyrrell Barringer-Tairi, Sean Mcintee, Thomas Morley, Reid Hullerman, Suhail Toubat, Luuk van den Burgh, Rahan Ali, Ben O'Farrell, Ben WallaceTim O'Farrell, Darren Hart.
