Four Chilliwack women are on the soccer journey of a lifetime, participating in the World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia.

Nearly two years ago, the women saw an ad from a person named Simone, looking to put together a classic womens’ team.

Six locals went to a tryout to vie for spots against players from throughout the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island.

Trudy Hall tried out for the team on a whim, not really expecting to make the team.

She spent years on the sidelines as a coach and cheerleader for her kids, and finally, at the age of 39, decided she would give soccer a try.

“At first, I wasn’t so good. I could run, but my talent was very limited,” Hall lamented. “It took a lot of practice and perseverence to get a little bit of skill into my game. After so many years on the sidelines, I figured it would be a piece of cake. It definitely was not.”

Hall went into Vancouver for the tryout that day with low expecations.

She would do her best and hope for the best. If she didn’t make it, at least she would know she didn’t leave anything on the table.

“Two weeks later, I got an e-mail from Simone,” she recalled. “I was afraid to open it, so I left it alone. Then my husband called me and said, ‘Congratulations!’ That’s when I knew I’d made the team.”

Currently 47, Hall will celebrate her 48th birthday in Australia. A gold medal would be the best present imaginable.

“As a side quest, we’ve been told by a couple World Masters Games veterans that we have to steal the underwear of the largest male competitor,” she laughed. “So there’s that too. That might be a bigger challenge than winning the tournament.”

Goaltender Lisa Hiemstra started playing the game when she was 10, but gave it up at 18 when life got in the way.

Her first comeback came at the age of 26, ending with a back injury two years later.

Her second comeback came at age 32 when she decided no back injury was worth giving up her favourite past-time.

Now 42, she has been a fixture on local teams for a decade.

For seven years, she’s been a key member of the Chillwack Lunachicks, a perennial powerhouse in the Metro Womens’ Soccer League 30+ division.

She has four kids, ranging in age from the late teens to early 20s, and they all wish they were in Australia with her.

“They all play soccer and I coached most of them all the years that they played,” she said. “They were very excited and happy for me when they found out I was on the team. They were envious too, and they all wanted to go.”

Sorry boys and girls, but this is mommy’s time.

Jenny Pagliericci played soccer as a youth, but, like Hiemstra, gave it up when marriage and children and jobs came along.

Eight years ago, she got back into it with the predecessor of the Lunachicks, the Valley Shooters.

Pagliericci wasn’t sure the Fusion would fit into her schedule until the last minute, and she came very close to turning down the chance.

“A lot of times, I’ve gone back over that and thought, ‘Wow, what if I didn’t go? I’d never have had this opportunity.’ We’ve been working for months and months, and it’s turned into quite the adventure. It’s been a lot of work, but a lot of fun.”

Travel and accomodations costs roughly $3,000 per person, and there are additional costs involved in travelling between venues and feeding the team.

The Fusion have held fundraisers to help off-set the costs, but whatever the final price tag reads, it’s well worth the trouble.

“I didn’t really know what the Games were about until one of our teammates brought a photo album from the last one in Edmonton (2005),” Pagliericci said. “You walk into the arena with all the other athletes from your country. There are thousands of people there. I didn’t really know it was that big until I started to talking to people who were at Edmonton.”

The fourth local making the trip is Launa Perry, and she views the trip as a possible last soccer hurrah.

With four daughters, a home-based plant nursery and a job at a local old-age home, the 47-year-old has little time these days for recreational pursuits.

“I consider myself blessed that I made the Fusion team,” she said. “I think maybe I’d like to go out with a bang in Australia. Then again, soccer is my addiction, so I might just keep playing it until I can’t play no more.”

All the women agree that sightseeing will be a major component of the trip.

None of them have ever been to Australia before, and the minutes have been mapped out to ensure they see and do everything they want to see and do.

But for these competitors, the main goal is to win, and bring gold medals back to the ‘Wack.

“And to find the guy with the underwear,” Pagliericci said. “That’s important too.”