This was highlighted yesterday when Andrew Kelly (Canterbury) and Mark Watt (Dunedin) were named in the New Zealand Under-25 team for the transtasman series against Australia at the end of February.
Watt (20), the only Otago bowler in the team, has been named as lead in the pair with Kelly as skip.
They will also play in the four that includes Aucklanders Chris Le Lievre and Greg Ruaporo.
Kelly (21) learned his bowls in Oamaru and first came into prominence on the national scene when he was a pupil at Waitaki Boys High School.
He won the boys singles at the New Zealand secondary school championships in 2005.
Watt grew up in Palmerston and won the national secondary schools pairs for East Otago High School in 2003 with Josh Freeman.
Ryan Khan (Forest View High School, Waikato), the grandson of Millie Khan, won the boys singles this year.
He has been named in the New Zealand Under-18 team for the transtasman series.
The Nelson pair of Amy Brenton and Misty Arnold (Nayland College), who won the girls pairs in 2005-06, and Mandy Boyd (Napier Girls), who won the singles for the last two years, are in the New Zealand Under-25 team.
Lanah Craik (Waitaki Girls) finished runner-up in the girls singles at Auckland to Boyd.
Craik had beaten Boyd twice during the championships and this was her only loss.
Kavanagh College's Bishop brothers, James and Greg, won the bronze medal in the boys pairs, and defending champions Kate Willyams and Olivia Smith (Dunstan) were fourth in the girls pairs.
The boys pair of Joshua Dick and Mitchell Trezise (Timaru Boys) finished fifth and Sarah Dick (Roxburgh High School) was sixth in the girls singles.
