Benji Light did not know what to expect when he was called into his older brother's futsal team for the nationals, but it turned into an Australian jersey.
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He was the only goalkeeper in the ACT under-19s side, facing players three years his senior, and he rose to the occasion to have the tournament of his life in Brisbane.
Six weeks later the phone rang, and it was the national coach asking him to play for Australia's under-17s at the International Futsal World Championships in Spain.
The 16-year-old jumped at the opportunity, and helped his side, alongside his Majura FC teammate Tom Rush, to finish runners-up in the international meet this week.
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Light and his 18-year-old brother Asher were two of 11 players from Canberra chosen to don the green and gold.
"I knew of my ability, and I knew I was good enough, but I certainly wasn't expecting from being a ring in for the under-19s team, to end up here. And I hope it's still only the beginning," Light said.
"It's so great that there's so much talent here in Canberra.
"It's so exciting on its own to be going to a world championships, but to be sharing these experiences and to be going over with my brother, and with my family, just made it twice as good."
The older Light brother went one better in the under-21s national competition, and won the world championships with Australia's late 2-1 grand final win over Scotland.
The 18-year-old Dickson College student had his eyes on finals even before he left for Europe.
"I couldn't be more excited to be able to represent Australia and be able to play all the different teams," Asher said.
"I [was] really excited and looking forward to getting over there in Spain and testing out my abilities, and my team's abilities against teams from around the world.
"The goal over there [was] to show off my talent, our team's talent, and really put our best foot forward."
But the ACT's biggest representation came in the women's side.
Canberra Olympic's Michaela Day captained Australia to a world championship with a 1-0 triumph over the United States. She was joined by Olympic teammate Nicole Jalocha, who was named the grand final's MVP, Jessica Gionvinazzo, and NPLW sisters Stella and Natalie De Marco.
Fellow Canberran Charlie Rae's side narrowly missed out on the grand final in the under-14s, and Jayde James-Ward and Daniel Fulton finished runners-up in the men's competition, after going down 8-1 to the US in the grand final.
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
