Bowls has been in the headlines in a negative way lately with reports of declining membership and struggles to get younger people to take up the game.
However, youth gets a chance to shine this weekend when the Gonville club hosts the Kittyhawk singles regional qualifier.
The under-20s tournament features three promising young Wanganui bowlers among a field of 18, with the best prospects from Wellington, Manawatu, Hawke's Bay and Taranaki also in action.
At stake are places in the national Kittyhawk finals which will be held in Auckland at Easter, with eight boys and four girls advancing from the regional event.
In the lineup are 12-year-old Taylor Broughton from Castlecliff, Te Rau Kere Kere, also 12, from Marton, and teenager Natalya Johnson from the Aramoho club.
Marton's Allisha Hansen was in the original draw but will be over-age come the Easter finals.
"We have four really good young players coming through," said Wanganui Kittyhawk manager Joy Lynch.
"They are not very experienced but they are very keen, and it shows there is young talent here in Wanganui and around the region. They just need lots of encouragement."
Lynch has been providing some of that encouragement by coaching the youngsters. She has been a national selector for juniors and took the first team to the Youth Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2004, and all those players have gone on to the Black Jacks national senior squad.
At Gonville, the players have three matches today and three on Sunday.
Also tomorrow, Wanganui's champion of champion triples for both men and women are being played at the Wanganui East club.
Today it's the men's academy inter-club at Durie Hill and the women's at Aramoho.