Kingsley Brown, Jason Dare Ryan, Tye Treloar Starkey and Shaquille Liouresis were selected to represent South Australia in the national competition, after impressing coaches at training clinics held in Port Augusta early last month.

The group will join with 11 other young players aged between 13 and 16-years-old, from Ceduna, Whyalla, Coober Pedy, Mount Gambier and Adelaide.

Players will spend a day in Adelaide at a training camp where they will meet team mates, as well as members of the girls squad also.

They then head for Townsville on Friday, before the festival officially kicks off on Saturday morning.

Leonard Lester, who helped oversee the training and coaching sessions, said the opportunity was a great one for the young players.

Playing soccer for almost three years, Treloar said he could not wait to arrive in Townsville.

“I can’t wait to get out there on the field and start playing,” he said.

South Australia’s regional participation manager Vito Basile said the FFA had a long tem goal of increasing indigenous participation.

For this reason, the FFA have turned to harvesting from the pool of upcoming talent in Australia’s regional centres.

Currently there is about two per cent of indigenous participation in the game in all leagues and levels.

The FFA hoped these programs would boost participation to five per cent or more.

"The Indigenous Football Festival will provide the selected players an opportunity to showcase their own football abilities against other indigenous community groups from all over Australia,” Mr Basile said.