But Old Canberrans veteran Seyi Onitiri will treat the tournament as a perfect way to finish his senior representative career as Australia aims for its first indoor World Cup title.

Eight Hockey ACT stars will leave Canberra this week after winning selection in the Australian team for the tournament in Leipzig, which begins on February 4.

Lawyer Onitiri, 33, is playing at his first World Cup and is planning for it to be his last as he draws closer to the end of his career.

"It's probably the case that this will be my last; it would be a nice way to finish," Onitiri said.

"Outdoor [hockey] has been my focus for a long time but this indoor tournament would be a good way to finish in Europe with big crowds and an opportunity to do better than Australian teams have before.

"I'm really looking forward to it, it's going to be a party atmosphere and almost like a festival with huge crowds."

Matt Hotchkis will captain the Australian men's team and is playing at his third indoor World Cup while Amsterdam-based Paul MacKinnon will be at his second tournament.

Crookwell continues its remarkable knack of producing Australian representatives, with Shelley Watson and Kizziah Plumb selected in the women's squad.

Plumb was named player of the tournament at the Australian under-21s tournament in Canberra last month and now joins the Crookwell production line of hockey players.

Crookwell juniors and Hockeyroos players Emily Smith and Kellie White are part of the Australian women's Hockeyroos squad.

MacKinnon has spent the past three seasons based in the Netherlands as part of the professional competition, spending eight months of the year abroad.

The 32-year-old has no plans to slow down while he can still match it with some of the best players in the world.

Australia's outdoor hockey teams – the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras – have a reputation as some of the best in the world, but their popularity largely depends on success at the Olympic Games.

But with most of the squad playing in front of modest crowds at the Lyneham Hockey Centre, MacKinnon said they were about to enter a new world in Europe.

"There's a huge difference over there ... when the guys see some of the crowds in Germany, it will be a completely new experience," MacKinnon said.

"There will be about 5000 or 8000 at some of the games ... a bit different to a couple of hundred people if you're lucky here.

"It's a professional sport over there and that's how they approach it. We finished seventh at the last World Cup so hopefully we can do better than that.

"As long as I'm pulling my weight over there, I'd like to keep going."

Canberra representatives: Matt Hotchkis, Garry Backhus, Malcolm Beer, Paul MacKinnon, Seyi Onitiri, Shelley Watson, Kizziah Plumb, Peta Sutherland.