It's less than 100 days before Australia, and New Zealand, welcome the footballing world to our shores for the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Part of the festivities to welcome in the tournament countdown is FIFA's travelling Unity Pitch, a multicoloured, enclosed pitch that features exhibition matches, walking football, training sessions for local clubs and sessions for the public to have a kick about.
Its first stop was Brisbane's King George Square, after which it will travel to the other eight host cities to spread more awareness of the tournament and the opportunities.
On Thursday, though, shoppers were stopped in their tracks by something they possibly were not expecting.
Organisers told ABC Sport that they had not had as big a crowd at any point since the venue opened on Tuesday as when seven men in electric wheelchairs sped around the court, exhibiting the powerchair version of the game.
Two of those men were full Australian internationals — Tristram Peters and Josh Merkas — both of whom are fixtures in the world's fourth-ranked national powerchair football team, the Poweroos.
"Powerchair football is still relatively new, it's only been in Australia for the past 10 years," Peters told ABC Sport.
"So, to get this opportunity to increase our visibility and just show everyone what we're capable of in these sports chairs, is amazing and something that, when the opportunity came, we wanted to grab it with both hands."
Powerchair football is an adapted version of the outdoor game, played four-a-side on a basketball court-sized arena, in which the object of the game is to pass an oversized football into the goal.
Specially designed wheelchairs with metal foot guards are used to help the players control the ball as they pass it between one another in an intensely tactical version of the sport.
The other reason they were there is that the 11-a-side game is not the only football World Cup that Australia is hosting in 2023.
Postponed a year due to the lingering effects of COVID-19, the Powerchair World Cup will head to Sydney Olympic Park in October.
Then 10 nations — including defending champions France and two-time champions USA — will compete alongside Argentina, Denmark, England, Japan, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Uruguay and the hosts, Australia's Poweroos, in the fourth edition of the tournament, organised by FIPFA (Fédération International de Powerchair Football Association), which is not related to FIFA.
"For us, we've always said we're not playing disabled football, we're playing football," Peters said.
"And that's really important for us and, so, for us to then be seen on the same page as the Matildas and the Socceroos is just incredibly important. And, so, for our World Cup, it's as much about building a legacy and showing that this is an opportunity for so many other people with disabilities and they could also play this.
"It's about showing that it's not disabled football, it's football and everyone, no matter what form of the game they're playing, it's still the football that we know and love."
As many of those who crowded the courtside on Thursday discovered, the skill level of the players is out of this world.
"What's cool about playing outdoors today is that we've got passers-by coming and seeing us and stopping and, what's really happening, I suppose, is they're not just stopping and watching for 20 or so seconds, they're staying for 5 to 10 minutes," Peters said.
"[There were even] some gasps from the crowd. There were a couple of decent shots there. They were in awe at what [Josh Merkas] was able to do."
Merkas is one of the top players in Australia, and the fourth-ranked side also has the reigning World Cup MVP, Abdullah Karim, in its ranks.
The Poweroos also have some pretty important backers, among others, Matildas star Sam Kerr.
Ahead of the World Cup, the Chelsea strikers recorded a message of support for the tournament and players.
"I've been following the game for many years. It's a great game. It brings joy to many people, and I can't wait to follow the World Cup," Kerr said in the promo.
"Her cousin, Sarah, still plays powerchair and Sam has been an amazing advocate for what we do and taking it further afield … she spreads the word over there [in England] and it's really, really powerful."
Peters and his teammates will be back in action this weekend at Brisbane's Unity pitch from 10am, before heading back indoors to compete in round three of the Queensland local competition.
To help tune up for the World Cup, Peters and Merkas are also travelling regularly to Sydney with their Poweroos teammates.
"We've been very, very lucky that we've got some amazing associations with A-League and NPL clubs," Peters said of Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers. in particular, both of whom are official supporters of the World Cup, plus Newcastle Jets and NPL team Hills United — all of whom lend their names, and support, to the New South Wales competition in the same way that Lions, Brisbane Strikers and Brisbane City do in the Queensland competition.
That has included putting players in the chairs to see what they can do.
"What I find really cool is when they get in the chairs and they play it for the first time, they realise that there's actually a lot of skill involved," Peters said.
"It's muscle memory on how we drive our chairs, but when we get on the court we're just playing sport.
"So, to have all of them involved and spreading the word on what we do and how skilful we are, it's a nice feeling."
The World Cup kicks off in Sydney on October 15, with the champions crowned seven days later.
