Southern regions will have a healthy presence at an age-group tournament in Turkey next week.
Four Dunedin Thunder players and another five from Queenstown are part of the Junior Ice Blacks heading to the division 3, group A under-20 world championships in Turkey.
Will Bary, Ian Audas, Jack Lewis and Morgan Blair will represent Dunedin on the ice, and sideline will be Mike Byck, who will serve as the goalie coach for the team.
Lachlan Boniface, Logan Campbell, Axel Ruski-Jones, Joel Paterson and Joel Gerard are Queenstown skaters in the squad.
The under-20 championships are a significant opportunity for the young fellows to be seen on the international stage and compete against some exceptional teams.
"We’re incredibly proud of Will, Ian, Jack, Morgan and Mike for their hard work and commitment to the sport," Thunder coach Guillaume Leclancher said.
"They embody the spirit of Dunedin ice hockey and inspire the next generation of players in our community."
New Zealand’s first game at the under-20 championships is against Mexico. They also play Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Turkey.
• The New Zealand under-18 women’s team have made a rough start to their campaign in Latvia.
It always shaped as a challenging step up to the division 2, group A world championships after their stunning group B gold medal in Bulgaria last year.
They were beaten 7-0 by the home nation in their opening game, and suffered a 14-3 loss to Kazakhstan yesterday.
Nerhys Gordon, Polly Bennetts and Jacinta Hoglund scored New Zealand’s goals against Kazakhstan.
Southern representatives in the team are Jess Ryall, Camryn Linton, Sophie Sam, Lydia Blair-Hortop (all Dunedin), Jessie Strain, Aoife Orr, Lucy Boniface, Manuella Sanches Pedrosa (Queenstown) and Izzy Power (Tekapo), while Dunedin woman Jaydee Cabral is an assistant coach.
