The group made up this year's class which graduated from the Otago Academy of Sport last night.
In a two-year programme, the academy identifies promising athletes from within Otago and helps prepare them for high-performance sport.
That includes workshops in a range of areas such as mental skills, athlete life, nutrition, strength and conditioning, drug-free sport and self-massage.
They also have individual consultations with experts to help improve individual performance, as well as having a strength and conditioning programme at the High Performance Sport NZ gymnasium.
The group included several athletes to have already made a name for themselves at senior level.
Twins Kate and Georgia Heffernan have both played netball for the Southern Steel, while also being handy cricketers.
Nicole Ruske has played for the Tall Ferns basketball team, while Olivia O'Neill has played for the Touch Blacks, as well as playing for the Junior Tall Ferns.
The others have had plenty of success at age-grade level and look to be on their way to doing so on the highest stage in their sports.
They are Cecilia Crooks (triathlon), Devon Familton (surf life-saving), Lucy Matehaere (sprint kayaking), Jordan Ward (hockey), Hamish Mears (athletics), Sam Gouverneur (athletics), Hanri de Bruin (shooting), Kate Campbell (rowing) and Corey Lewis (rowing).
