It's always an honour to represent your country at a major international sporting event. Not everyone gets the chance to do it.

Yellowknife's Mario Hernandez just may get the chance to hit the ice at a major international sporting event in the near future, but it wouldn't be for Canada.

In fact, it may be for one of the very last places you'd ever think would have a national hockey team.

The 16-year-old St. Pat's student is in the running to be part of the Mexican national U18 men's hockey team having made it through to the final round of selection. The school posted the notice earlier this month and if all goes well, he could earn himself a place as one of the team's defencemen.

So just how did Hernandez get himself into this? He's eligible by virtue of being born in Mexico and his father was who told him about it.

"I was 12 when I found out Mexico had a national team and my dad said when I got older, we should reach out and contact them," he said. "I didn't think it would be possible and it's crazy to think that it would ever happen, but I'm happy to be part of it."

Almost all of the players who are in the running to make the final cut hail from Canada or the U.S. with a small amount of European players in the mix, he added.

Practices can be tough to attend so to keep the coaching staff up to date, the players send links to videos so they can see how the players are progressing.

"I made the pre-season team and I just kept sending them videos," said Hernandez. "I went down (to Mexico) last year to see them in person and they seemed to like how I was doing."

When it comes to the style of play, Hernandez said it's very North American-like in that it's very aggressive.

"There's a lot of hitting and a lot of pressure on the defence, it's really fast-paced" he said. "All I'm trying to do is impress the coaches and hope I do well enough to make the team."

The final squad will most likely have 18 skaters with two goaltenders, Hernandez said, and the final roster is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

When the final roster is announced, Mexico will be playing in the World U18 Hockey Championship Division III tournament in March, where they'll be in Group A. That's the group where the winners are promoted to Group B in Division II. Mexico will be up against New Zealand, Turkiye, Israel, Hong Kong and Iceland for the right to win promotion. What's more is that the tournament will be held on home soil, so to speak, in Metepec, Mexico.

Hernandez said if he's lucky enough to play, he knows it will be tough competition.

"They'll still be good games, even if they aren't the top hockey teams in the world," he said. "They're the best from their country and I really hope I get the chance to play against them."