12 teenage football players from southeastern Manitoba will be heading down to Texas next week.

Billie Jo Hunter is the mom of one of the players, she says the group is a part of the Manitoba Selects and this will be a great opportunity for the players.

15-year-old Graham Hunter plays on the offensive line. Hunter says he's looking forward to the experience.

"I can't wait to see how big football is out in Texas. That's going to be really cool. I think there's going to be a lot of different styles of coaching, so that should be pretty cool."

13-year-old cornerback Joshua Ortynski says there will be higher-end teams participating and it will be great to learn from them.

"It's also really exciting because there's going to be scouts watching you, seeing how good you are."

15-year-old Austin Dueck is also a quarterback. Dueck notes this will be a completely new set of opportunities.

"It's going to be a whole 'nother atmosphere because they're way big into football out there. So, it's going to be a whole 'nother level, looking forward to that. There's probably a whole lot of different coaching out there so probably learn some stuff in practices."

14-year-old Jayden Vogt is also heading out with the team and plays as an outside linebacker. He says he's looking forward to seeing how big football is in Texas.

All four players say they would like to pursue football after high school, going into college or university, and this experience will help with those goals.

Practice starts in San Antonio on February 21 and then the Sixth Annual Pigskin International Tournament with teams from the United States, Mexico, and Canada takes place on February 24 and 25.