Three Rotorua hockey players have taken a step closer to national honours after being selected in the Under-18 Tiger Turf Junior Academy.
Leo Wells, 17, Connor Herewini, 18, and Jonty Keaney, 17, have been named in a squad of 20 to take on Australia in December.
Under-18 men's head coach Bryce Collins was impressed by the talented group of hockey players selected.
After a four-day training camp at North Harbour Hockey last weekend, from a squad of 30, 16 players have been named along with four goalkeepers which will be whittled down by two after a December training camp.
"Having been involved last year as well, I think we have definitely got a more athletic group this year. The testing results show that their speed is good and comparable to the under-21s, which is very encouraging and a good start," Collins said.
Players have been provided with an individual training programme and regional coaches will work with them to help improve their skills and fitness before December.
Last weekend's camp included fitness testing, three squad games, educational sessions as well as some skill sessions, which were focused around goal scoring and goalkeeping.
"These were two areas of the game that we had identified as needing to be developed and so we modified games so we could work specifically on these areas," said Collins.
With only three players named in the team from last year, he said the players who impressed the selectors over the weekend included Leo Wells, Joseph Robertson and David Brydon.
"Leo Wells was a stand-out at the camp, Joseph has just turned 16 and has some good raw natural talent and David is the fittest in the group, he has a great work ethic and is very coachable."
Collins said he was working closely with Black Sticks coaches Mark Hager and Shane McLeod to look at what skills and attributes are needed within the Black Sticks teams.
Hockey New Zealand high-performance manager Toni Cumpston said with close to 80 athletes in each of the men's and women's programmes, the structure was now in place to develop a strong pool of athletes.
"We must be able to give our athletes opportunities at an earlier stage in their sporting careers to build the depth and quality of play that is required to compete and be successful on the world stage."
The Tiger Turf Academy is part of Hockey New Zealand's Owen G Glenn Future Black Sticks programme.
Junior Academy men's team: Matthew Brougham, David Brydon, Cameron Gibbons, Alexander Hanham, Connor Herewini, Sam Jimmieson, Jonty Keaney, Kim Kingstone, Oliver Logan, Harry Miskimmin, Kip Mouldey, Bradley Read, Joseph Robertson, Matt Symonds, Leo Wells, Nicholas Woods.
Goalkeepers (two to be dropped after December training camp): Matt Hunter, Thomas Mallon, Kieran O'Donnell, Cameron Stobie.