Christopher Boyd (16), Sian Horn (11), Bethany Sturt (12) and Charlie Rose (9) and adult skater Loris Mills have been hard at work for the past fortnight in "skate camp", on the ice at the Queenstown Fun Centre by 8am each day.
Coached by Rochelle Scott, the group has also had additional help from Christchurch-based coach Duncan Henderson to prepare for the weekend.
Queenstown Ice Skating Club secretary Jeanette Horn said about 60 skaters aged from 7 to 47 would compete at the championships, representing Queenstown, Dunedin, Alexandra and Gore, and guest skaters from Christchurch and Auckland.
Mrs Horn said it would be Charlie's and Sian's first experience in a real competition, but the keen skaters were ready.
"It's a big regional competition and our guys are right up there.
We're hoping for good placings."
It was likely Sian and Chris would be competing in the South Island championships in Dunedin next month, and then the national championships in Gore later this year.
That would make it a particularly busy time for Chris - who has skated since he was 7 years old and has also been selected to compete at the Australian nationals from August 16 to 23.
Mrs Horn said while the Queenstown ice skating fraternity was a small one - with those competing this weekend making up the club's entire competitive membership - there were high hopes for the future of the sport in the resort.
A Kiwi Skate group, which focuses on young children, was helping to provide a taste for the sport, but the problem was keeping them interested, with most of them lost to skiing and snowboarding, she said.
However, a development squad had been set up to help the children progress from Kiwi Skate, aiming to introduce them to the competitive level.
The Otago-Southland ice skating championships begin at 9.15am tomorrow at the Queenstown Fun Centre and continue until 3.45pm, with the Sunday events starting at 8.35am and finishing at 2pm.
