That's the way it was in 1998 - 10 years after the first under-19 tournament - and now they are played every two years, there's more chance, more opportunities, of players putting up their hand.
Mills remembers New Zealand had no idea how well they'd go.
"We knew absolutely no one in the opposing team and it will be the same for New Zealand this time."
His thought, though, is as it was back in 1998 - that conditions might dictate which countries perform more strongly.
"When we were in South Africa, we knew there would be quick, bouncy wickets and they were similar to New Zealand at that time. That ruled out Subcontinental teams coming from slow, low wickets and that will be the same for this edition. The Subcontinental players won't have experienced those wickets."
Several of those under-19 players went on to play for New Zealand.
Mills, who took 11 wickets at 19 apiece, and left-arm spinner Bruce Martin, 13 at 12.92, made the tournament team. James Marshall's 325 runs at 65 were topped by just one player, a West Indian called Chris Gayle, who made 364 runs at 72.8.
In addition to Gayle, the West Indies side included future prominent batsmen Marlon Samuels and Ramnaresh Sarwan. India had Virendar Sehwag and offspinner Harbhajan Singh. South Africa had future New Zealand World Cup hero Grant Elliott, test batsman Jacques Rudolph and former Canterbury batsman Johan Myburgh.
Australia included ODI allrounder James Hopes and test batsman Marcus North. And Pakistan had Shoaib Malik, still going strong and shortly to arrive here with Pakistan, and South African legspinner Imran Tahir in their squad.
And England, who also beat New Zealand by four wickets in pool play? They were captained by Owais Shah, and had well-performed players such as Robert Key, Graeme Swann and Graham Napier, who has spent time with Wellington and Central Districts.
"The England team always had a bit of a rap around them, because half their team had county contracts. Back then, that meant a car, the whole shooting box, whereas that certainly wasn't the case coming from New Zealand," Mills said.
New Zealand, who were coached by former test fast bowler Dayle Hadlee, just sneaked into the final on run rate.
England won the final fairly comfortably but the experience remains firmly etched in Mills' mind.
He went on to have a successful New Zealand career, playing 19 tests, 170 ODIs and 42 T20s.
His first ODI came just three years after the under-19 tournament.
Mills recalled an unfortunate injury for future test opener Michael Papps, still going strong for Wellington. He dislocated a shoulder doing butterfly in the team's hotel swimming pool in South Africa, opening the door for Hamish Marshall to join the squad.
The last title was won by the West Indies in 2016, and they were led by Shimron Hetmyer who has been in New Zealand on the current tour.
It will be a case of spot the future star next month, too.
"You look at the four best batters in the world, in my opinion - Virat Kohli [India], Steve Smith [Australia], Kane Williamson [New Zealand] and Joe Root [England].
"They all captain their national sides and all went through the under-19s," Mills said.
The other memory he has is of the crowds, up to 12,000 at times as they played matches at test grounds, Newlands in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein before the final at Johannesburg's famous Wanderers ground.
"South Africa was not that long back into international sport [after the apartheid ban], so it was a major thing to have a world event. They'd had the Rugby World Cup in 1995, and now this," he said.
Fabulous experiences, which are about to be enjoyed by the latest crop of rising teenage talent.
Under-19 World Cup
• New Zealand will host the Under-19 World Cup for the third time, from January 13 until the final on February 3 at Mount Maunganui.
• There are 16 teams split into four pools. New Zealand are in group A with the West Indies, Kenya and South Africa.
NZ side in 1998 final
David Kelly (CD, ND)
James Marshall (ND, NZ)
Jarrod Englefield (c, CD, Canterbury)
Hamish Marshall (ND, Wellington, NZ)
Lou Vincent (Auckland, NZ)
James Franklin (Wellington, NZ)
Peter McGlashan (CD, ND, NZ)
Regan West (CD, Wellington)
Kyle Mills (Auckland, NZ)
Bruce Martin (ND, Auckland, NZ)
Tim Anderson (CD)
The other squad members were: Current touring golf professional Michael Hendry (Auckland)
Richard Harkness (CD)
Peter Ingram (CD, NZ)
