A group of Australian hockey players are calling a visit to Calgary “the trip of a lifetime.”

Members of the Jackaroos hockey team are in Alberta to immerse themselves in Canadian hockey culture. They are spending their time playing hockey against other Canadian rec league teams and checking out facilities.

“Canadians are so good at their hockey, the facilities are awesome,” says Mark Coluccio, a 24-year-old from Newcastle, Australia. “The players, the culture, it’s just a great atmosphere.”

The players on the team range from being in their twenties to their sixties. They each paid $6,000 for the trip but say so far it's worth every penny. The team also says they're enjoying the “real Canadian experience” even though they’ve been on the losing end of most of their hockey games.

“It’s such a hard, fast sport. It’s so fun,” says Tristan Rutherford, captain of the Jackaroos. “You just can’t get anything like it back home. I’d way prefer to play this than rugby.”

The organizer of the trip, David Ferrari of NSA Hockey, runs a hockey school in Newcastle, a city of 300,000 with just one rink. Still, Ferrari says he can see the sport growing.

“Parents want their kids to try something new and, with our development program, we have some really good coaches in place now,” says Ferrari. “Before it was parents who had never been exposed to the game trying to teach their kids.”

Between games, the Jackaroos are taking in Calgary Flames games and practices and are also sightseeing in the Rockies.

Another trip is already in the works for next year.

With a report from CTV Calgary’s Shaun Frenette