There were two Go for Gold sessions on Saturday for aspiring women's sevens players.
The programme, run by New Zealand Rugby, is searching for women, who may not be rugby players, but have the skills to excel in sevens.
The programme was run before the Rio Olympics and unearthed talents such as Portia Woodman.
Southern region women's rugby development co-ordinator Warren Kearney said 18 women came to the two sessions in Dunedin and were put through their paces.
The women came from various sports including touch, netball, rowing and rugby.
The players first had to go through a tough fitness test which was the equivalent of what would be a hard training at a sevens camp.
Testing was then carried out through playing a few games to show ability in hand-eye co-ordination, spatial awareness and speed.
Those who impressed will go to the next stage of the programme, a two-month programme designed to improve skills. It has one session a week in Dunedin and another session combined with players from Southland.
On April 8-9, there will be a South Island-wide training camp and from there a national tournament will take place at the end of April also featuring teams from the top and bottom of the North Island.
After this tournament, 20 players will be selected to be in the 2020 national development group.
This is a 12-month programme which covers skills sessions, strength and conditioning, nutrition and also includes playing in tournaments in New Zealand and overseas.
Five players from the Otago sevens team - Greer Muir, Renaye Flockton, Samara Hollows, Mikayla Latta and Georgia Mason - have already been picked for a development training group. Islay Fowler, who played for Canterbury, but has moved south for study, is also part of the Otago group.
Southland's Alena Saili was loaned to Otago for the national tournament last month and has since been elevated to the national sevens team.
