For the second time in the space of several months, a Wales side is preparing for a historic World Cup campaign.
Gareth Bale and co. had to wait 64 years for Welsh football to step out onto the sport's big stage, but for many in Welsh hockey, a World Cup is truly uncharted territory.
The men's side are currently preparing for their first ever World Cup campaign out in India this week, with old foes England awaiting them in their opening game on Friday. They're joined in Pool D by hosts India, backed by the sort of fanatical crowd players on these shores could only dream of, alongside Spain, themselves a top ten side.
An estimated two billion people will watch the tournament, and getting here is the crowning achievement of a stunning rise that has seen Wales go from 35th to 15th in the world rankings over the last six years. But sporting success is only one reason why this campaign is so potentially significant.
India, like Qatar, is clearly a tremendous opportunity to showcase Wales on the global stage. Indeed, First Minister Mark Drakeford said as much in a reception for the team shortly before they jetted out.
“The Hockey World Cup sets off a fantastic year of sport for Wales and the opportunity that comes with it to make Wales known on that world stage," he told the team.
But while the opportunities for exposure are similarly exciting, the financial chasm between this team and Rob Page's boys could hardly be greater. Indeed, it's difficult to imagine Aaron Ramsey or Gareth Bale being forced to pay for the pleasure of representing their country, although they admittedly probably would if necessary.
For many members of this squad, this tournament is a reason to put life on hold. Teachers, NHS workers, students, and university lecturers, are all at the heart of this team. All eager to make their mark on this great stage.
Rhys Bradshaw, who made his Wales debut back in 2018 and represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, has recently got a taste for the sort of balancing act that comes with being at the top of this game, having started working at an insurance company in September.
"This tournament, I've got to have to take 17 working days off and of course I get 25 days of holiday," he said. "So I've had to have a chat with them, particularly with the Euros this summer."
Players often have to take unpaid leave or work weekend or night shifts in order to free up the time needed for their hockey commitments, which when combined with the costs of actually playing, can represent a substantial financial burden.
"Every year we make a core payment [to Hockey Wales]," says Bradshaw. "We've just had our core payment communicated to us for the next cycle. So that's going towards the European Championships in August and that's 1,200 quid on top of the expenses that we pay to play for the clubs. So you're approaching two to two-and-a-half grand a year probably in my case to play hockey.
"The core payment doesn't include things like getting to the airport, paying for parking, buying food on the way.
"I was talking to some of the lads from the GB programme and they were saying they had an eight-hour layover in Dehli and all the food they bought at the airport could be claimed on expenses. If we do that it's out of our own pocket. That shows the contrast.
"We're fortunate to have Study in Wales as a sponsor. As far as I'm aware they've put in the best part of 80 grand into supporting us being here. Without them we probably wouldn't be here."
Sport Wales and the governing body have done the best they can with their own contributions, but funds are still stretched, and the squad have had to turn to other sources for income, with Hockey Wales CEO Ria Burrage-Male even setting up a crowdfund to help fill the remaining hole.
"When we qualified it was a little bittersweet, because I just thought 'how on earth are we going to fund this?'," she explained.
"We just haven't had the commercial appetite we had hoped for, unfortunately.
"It probably would have cost the players five-and-a-half grand each to go. So we managed to allocate some of our grants from Sport Wales and got a sponsor in Study In Wales.
"We had a budget and we were on track, but everything just increased, and we end up being about 40k short. We managed to secure some additional funding, and the crowd funding is to make up the difference."
The drive has so far raised just over £5,000 and has, at the time of writing, been paused as the the team prepare for the upcoming campaign.
It's attracted plenty of positive support, with a number of people from the hockey family, and former Swansea City and Wales football star Neil Taylor, contributing to the pot.
A statement on the page reads: "Both our men and women contribute financially to play for Wales, your help will ensure they do not pay to play on one of the biggest sporting stages.
"Thank you for your interest, contribution and for becoming part of our journey.
"Wales Men will represent you and our nation with pride, honour, respect and Hwyl."
Explaining what the money would be used for, Burrage-Male added: "We've got to be mindful of what doctors need to take with them in terms of malaria tablets and antibiotics.
"Then there's things like nutrition and hydration that allows them to perform on the world stage. It pays for travel, baggage, visas, food and that's literally all it does.
"It's different to sides like England, who are fully funded. I actually think we're the only nation whose programme is part-funded. Other nations are also on full-time contracts. It's their job."
Working to overcome the financial obstacles appears to be just as much of a challenge as matters on the pitch, but the crowd funding drive has helped to relieve at least some of the tension on the purse strings. But there's little question that it hammers home an uncomfortable reality, particularly when placed in the contest of the team's World Cup rivals.
Some members of the camp freely admit they're not sure it sends out the right message.
"I think we were a little bit reticent as a group of the image it portrays," said co-captain Luke Hawker, a sports coaching lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
"We want to be seen as a squad that's competing at a World Cup. We want to be seen on the same level as the teams we're playing against. We want to be taken seriously. We want to compete and we want to win.
"But on your back, you've kind of got this financial thing that lingers there.
"We we want to show strength as a nation, and the crowdfunding almost shows weakness in what we do to support elite sport in the shop window."
Hawker would perhaps be the first to admit his views are perhaps a little idealistic, but it's easy to see how anyone representing a nation so renowned for its passion for sport might have some reservations on the optics of it all.
But while some may be torn over the best way to strengthen the purse, the pride in representing Wales cannot be questioned, and the players themselves believe the upcoming tournament represents a huge opportunity to take the sport into an exciting new era.
"I think the first question when we got off the plane was how's it going to feel playing in the world's largest hockey stadium? It's something like 20,000 people" Hawker adds. "That's certainly going to be new for most in the group, although to be fair we've always faced new tournaments, new challenges and new opposition. So we're pretty well-versed in it.
"I think it's also a chance to raise the profile of the game a little bit. It's just little things like going through the airport with all our gear on and people stop saying 'oh you play hockey. Why you here? Who do you play for?'
"And obviously our shirts say Wales on them. But they still look at us and say 'huh?' and we have to explain it's in the UK, to the left of England! For the vast majority of people here, they know hockey, but they don't know Wales. It's not on the map for them.
"For us as a group, we can't really lose," he adds. "It's a first ever World Cup, the first time Wales have appeared in a stadium in front of the sort of crowds you get in a country like India.
"We've probably excelled or achieved beyond our resources and the time we get together. Anything we do here is, in a way, going to be a success. We're only going to be better for being at the tournament. Other nations are going to know more about us. We're going to be in the public eye more than ever.
"Aside from Chile, I think, everyone else here is a professional outfit backed by thousands and thousands of pounds. The fact we're even close to that is close to a miracle, I think."
All connected to the sport are hopeful that this could be the first chapter in an exciting future, and there's a feeling that, with the proper funding, this team could really achieve something special.
But the financial waters are only likely to get choppier. While there hasn't been a figure put on next year's budget, the potential cuts have been described as a 'damaging amount'.
It means Wales may well need another miracle or two over the coming years.
Wales take on England at 11.30am on Friday in Rourkela, and fans can catch all the action live on BT Sport 2
