It has taken a lot of vision and willpower from the individuals involved, but through hard work and sacrifice it seems women's team sports are finally coming back into vogue in Wanganui.
For the past three years, a senior women's Wanganui representative squad from a local code has been resurrected, each the first of their kind in a time frame of seven to 15 years, in order to leave our borders and go test themselves on the regional or national stage.
It is a local pathway for these young ladies which has previously been sorely lacking in large team sports.
While our rowers, kayakers and track and field athletes have been able to apply themselves on bigger fields - as each can receive specialist and individual-specific training - there has been a real struggle to offer the same to young women in ball sports, who miss the chance to go on the big "tour" after they leave school unless they move towns.
Cricket guru Dilan Raj knew this in November 2013 when he strung together the first Wanganui women's cricket team in 14 years.
While the team was captained by former Central Districts Hinds player Esther Lanser, Raj couldn't bring back every quality cricketer with Wanganui connections that he wanted.
But he certainly gave the teenagers who learned the game playing in January's Festival of Cricket a chance to go to another level by entering the Mike Shrimpton Trophy.
Yes, the team were handily beaten in their three games by the more experienced Hawke's Bay, Taranaki and Manawatu, but as Raj would attest, if you can get one golden nugget from the pan, then the prospecting was worth the effort.
Enter Jessica Watkin. The-then 15-year-old talent made two good scores with one failure as opening batter, but more crucially, had been given another stage on which to perform that she would not have otherwise received at a crucial stage of her development.
Watkin would play the game for anyone who would take her - even turning out with the boys for Tech in the Premier 1 competition, before becoming a member of the CD Hinds herself, and is soon to be off to Brisbane with the NZ Under-18 indoor women's team for the Junior World Series.
A player good enough to represent New Zealand two years after playing senior minor association for Wanganui? Call that mission accomplished.
Hockey players Michelle Lowe and Kylie Penn didn't have designs on Black jumpers back in September 2014, but they certainly felt that after a seven-year absence, a Wanganui team should attend the National Senior Tournament in North Harbour.
"Wanganui" was perhaps a little misnomer, because to make up the numbers of the 16-strong squad, Penn and Lowe drafted in six Taranaki players, although two opted to pull out.
It showed a real commitment by all concerned to raise a team from scratch to go to the big dance against powerful sides such as Auckland and Canterbury, given that as well as Taranaki not sending their own team, Manawatu and Southland were also late withdrawals.
But Wanganui were there - with six players from local club Techno and four more from Collegians, including Watkin and her fellow rep cricketer Trin McCarthy, who were making history for the second time in 12 months.
Being two players short of a full roster took a toll in games, but Wanganui showed plenty of that characteristic you can't teach or hold with weight of numbers - heart.
After a thumping in their first three matches, they gave Canterbury a fright in a 2-1 loss, then came from behind to beat the NZ Defence Force 3-2, before drawing 2-2 with Counties in the playoff for 7th-8th.
It's true the initial success of raising full squads for those sports has been difficult to maintain, but Netball Wanganui has the advantage of a much bigger player base, which should hopefully mean the team announced today by coach Lisa Murphy becomes the first in a regular fixture of the Lion Foundation Netball Championships.
In this case, the opportunity to wear "Royal Blue" at national level has come from the superior thought process of Netball NZ, who have decided to do away with limiting representative teams from five zones by bringing back the first national provincial senior tournament in 15 years.
Nonetheless, it doesn't matter who sends the invite, it's up to you to get ready for the party, and the team which Murphy and the selectors have put together should hopefully hold their own in their first step up to the big time.
It takes a lot to raise large squads of women to go play their much stronger, big city opponents in other parts of the country, sacrificing time away from family and employment with the full knowledge of what you will be up against when it comes to bringing home a favourable result.
But how many potential White Ferns, Black Sticks, and Silver Ferns may be lurking under a rock, undiscovered, unless they get a chance to test themselves above the regular fare of weekend club games?
It's a chance to be seen by the powers-that-be, while fostering belief within themselves that they belong at that level.
How awesome would it be? To be wearing the Royal Blue of Wanganui, when that shining nugget is revealed.