"It will be the hardest competition they've ever played."
That is the word from head coach Kenny Weston, ahead of his Under 16 Tasmanian team's trip to Canberra to participate in the 2016 NTC Challenge starting on Monday.
He will lead the squad of the most talented Under 16's in the state as they take on the likes of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in a hectic week of football that will see the side playing 9 games over the course of five days.
Weston has his chargers will prepared and whilst admitting it is going to be tough, he is relishing the challenge of playing the best in the nation.
"It's the best of the best at this tournament, it will be a big step up for them but it will be a great experience for them. We absolutely relish the challenge."
The NTC challenge will take place in front of the FFA Technical committees, national team coaches and A-League scouts, offering those participating the chance to show their abilities and perform in front of people with an eye on recruiting them.
That exposure as well as the level of the competition will be a big boost to the selected players development according to Weston.
"It will be tough for them but great for their development and we will be able to gauge where they are the end of the competition from where they were at the start of the year."
The Tasmanian side will depart on Sunday, before starting 3 days of competition against the other States on the Monday, playing 6 games in 3 days, before being split up for the final 2 days based on biological maturation.
"It's the Youngest squad that I've taken. It's got a good mixture of both Northern and Hobart players, a real good balance from different clubs and different parts of the state. The hope is that we get some good results after the hard work that the boys have put in all year. We've had quite a lot of practice games, it's been as good a preparation as we could have hoped to get the boys psychically and mentally prepared."
Part of that preparation came earlier in November when the vast majority of the squad traveled to Melbourne City for a week of training and practice matches. They played against a Victorian state team, some youth NPL teams, as well as a side made up of a mixture of trialists for Melbourne city. It saw the boys getting important match experience in tough games against technically gifted opposition. Something they can expect a lot more of according to Weston.
"That is exactly what they can expect when they go away. But the message I always try and get across to the players is never to fear anyone but respect everyone and be the best that you can be both individually and collectively."
Despite Tasmania going in as underdogs, coming from a much smaller population base than their rivals, Weston said his side will not go into their shells, but will instead look to play a positive brand of football.
The focus will be on effective possession, looking to press collectively, transition well, hit teams on the break with good forward passing, then when you lose possession, the focus is on trying to regain it as quickly as possible."
The Tasmanian side begin their week against Victoria at 9:30AM on Monday before taking on New South Wales later in the day at 5:30pm.