Singleton Strikers players Mason Gruber and Brian Dedini attend Deaf Football Australia training camp at AIS

Mason Gruber, 13, and 15-year-old Brian Dedini got their first look at a professional footballing environment when they took part in a training camp for the National Deaf Team at the AIS in Canberra.

Mason and Brian are both coached by Mason's father Stephen who is the Strikers technical director and works for Football Australia.

The assistant coach of the Australian Men's Deaf Team Pete Nowakowski said the camps run four times a year.

"Even though coaching wise we're all volunteers and player wise they're paying their own way, It's still a very professional setup," he said.

"We had a training session Friday afternoon, double session on Saturday and then a training session on Sunday morning.

"Add in your team breakfast, team lunches, team dinners, team meetings in the evenings as well.

"We've got our own strength and conditioning coach there as well so we've got all our rehab and prehab work done."

Nowakowski said while the boys won't be able to particpate in a national team setup at a tournament until they reach 16, their pathway to selection is attending more camps and learning from the experienced players in the team.

"We've got a couple of younger guys who started up when I started up back in 2018 who were exactly the same as Mason and Brian were," he said.

"Young wide-eyed 13, 14-year-old kids and they are now part of our national team setup."

The National Deaf team will head to Malaysia in September to take part in the fourth World Deaf Football Championships.

Nowakowski believes Mason and Brian have time on their side should they aim for selection in 2027.

"We'll keep an eye on what's going on with Mason, what's going on with Brian, they've got the opportunity to reach out to us and share their game footage or ask for personal feedback," he said.

"Mason's got pretty much two and a half years, three years before he can be ready.

"Realistically 2027 is the tournament, that could be the one that Mason's involved at the World Cup if it all works well for him."