Rotorua's Josh Trewin has scored himself the chance of a lifetime - $40,000 and a trip to Canada to work with some of that country's best football players.
The 22-year-old has been granted a scholarship through the Auckland University of Technology worth $20,000 per year for two years, funded by Canada Soccer and the Canada Sport Institute Pacific.
Next week he'll travel to Vancouver to assist with the strength and conditioning of the Canadian women's team for the 2015 Fifa Women's World Cup, while at the same time working towards his PhD.
Having completed a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science with honours at the Waikato Institute of Technology last year, Mr Trewin said he was thrilled to have the opportunity to kick-start his career working among the best of the best.
"It's pretty hard to believe, I mean I'm 22 and going to be working with players in professional and international sports events like the Women's World Cup, which is being held in Canada, and the 2016 Rio Olympics. That's pretty amazing."