For Emma and David McKeon, that meant a move to Queensland. For Luke Wilkshire that was a move to Canberra, and then later Middlesbrough.

And for Unanderra's Kai Calderbank-Park, that meant a move to England at just 16 years of age.

While he admits the move has been challenging, after two years with the Burnley Football Club junior academy, Calderbank-Park has no regrets.

"It was quite tough to make the move," Calderbank-Park said. "I grew up here, all my mates are here, played football here, went to school here. At 16, it was quite tough to say goodbye to them and leave Wollongong.

"But at the end of the day, if you want to succeed, you have to move to England and try it out. I definitely have no regrets and it's turned out well."

As his father Chris puts it, the risk was one worth taking.

"It was really hard for us," Chris said. "We sold our home and our business so we could move to Burnley with Kai. It is what it is, those opportunities don't come along often. We had a chat and decided we had to give it a go, if you don't give it a go, how can you know what could have been."

With Calderbank-Park's initial two-year contract expiring in recent months, the conclusion of the English football season was a nervous period for the 18-year-old.

Such is the cutthroat nature of the English football ecosystem, Burnley offered contracts to just three of 12 available players.

Calderbank-Park was one of them.

The new contract provided the goalkeeper with a further 12 months to prove his worth and continue his football development and it's a challenge he's looking forward to taking on.

Read more: Calderbank-Park returns to help Unanderra juniors

"I was one of three that got kept on," Kai said. "I look at that and know they kept me for a reason. They believe in me, I believe in myself and I'm going to continue to work hard, hopefully earn another contract and keep on going.

"For me, my goal since I was a kid has been to play in the Premier League. It would mean a lot if that was with Burnley, they were the first team that brought me in and got me to where I am now."

Burnley's first team may have struggled throughout the most recent English Premier League season, the side finished 15^th on the ladder, however they do boast considerable depth in the goalkeeper position.

Burnley's stock of keepers includes Tom Heaton, Joe Hart, Nick Pope and Anders Lindegaard, four players with international experience. While the depth could be viewed as a roadblock, Calderbank-Park is viewing it as an opportunity to learn from the best.

"I've learned quite a lot from them. We've got three England internationals and they've taught me not to give up in everything you do.

"Tom was in the first team, got dropped, went down, worked his way back up and got picked for England. He said to never give up, work hard and give 100 per cent."

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