Blue Mountains product Trevor Morgan has high hopes for the Joeys - the national under 17s football team.
After making round 16 of the U17 FIFA World Cup last year, the Joeys head coach is hopeful they'll make the semi-finals of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) U16 Championships in Bahrain in November, qualifying them for the World Cup in Peru next year.
Under coronavirus restrictions, the team is yet to train together as one, and Morgan says the pandemic has brought good and bad elements.
They've missed out on a few tournaments and training together, but the players have responded well to video tasks.
"They've been saying it's good to train with their brother or their dad," Morgan said.
"I'm excited to get back to training and spending time with the kids.
"Fingers crossed we will be in camp in a couple of weeks time ... there's one in August and September leading into the championships."
Based in Wollongong, Morgan was appointed Joeys head coach in 2018, after working with the U23 Australian squad and the Western Sydney Wanderers youth and senior teams. He was raised in Faulconbridge and Linden, attending Springwood High School, and started playing football for the Hazelbrook Hawks, moving on to Springwood United and then Nepean reps.
"It was 11 versus 11 on a muddy pitch [playing for the Hawks]. That's my first memory of loving the game and wanting to play," Morgan said.
"I played 'cause I enjoyed it. I didn't have aspirations of being an international footballer. In my late teens I started looking at coaching," the 49-year-old said.
Football coaching was a natural fit for the man who trained as a PE teacher at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.