Seven players making their ANZ Championship debut this season can credit the Lois Muir Challenge (LMC) with propelling them into the elite ranks.
Designed as a feeder competition for netball's showcase trans-Tasman competition, the LMC is proving a valuable stepping stone for players with ANZ Championship aspirations - and its namesake couldn't be more proud.
Dame Lois Muir knows the future of New Zealand netball as a global force lies in its emerging talent.
"We're a smaller country and we've got a smaller pool of players than the likes of Australia so we just need to work that little bit smarter," Muir said.
"Let's face it, it's an opportunity. The beauty of the Lois Muir Challenge is it's a chance for these kids to show what they've got.
"It's short, it's sharp and you have to produce the goods ... you have to consistently perform and that's something we haven't told our young people for quite some time.
"I like going to the games and I like seeing the young talent coming through because they are our future ... I was thrilled to lend my name to it."
Hayley Saunders, Emma Moynihan (Steel), Ashleigh Smith, Hannah Poff (Tactix), Alanah Cassidy, Daya Pritchard (Pulse) and Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick (Mystics) all represented their regions in the LMC last year and had their efforts rewarded with ANZ Championship contracts for 2010.
Hayley Crofts, who played for the Pulse in the inaugural 2008 ANZ Championship, was a member of the victorious Southland LMC team last year and has since earned a Tactix contract.
Numerous other LMC players have been enlisted as official training partners for the five New Zealand franchises. Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic coach Noeline Taurua has even included two of her players, Elias Shadrock and Amy Christophers, in the region's two LMC teams so the pair can benefit from early season court-time.
A round-robin competition staged over just four weekends, the intense nature of the LMC was vital.
"It gives some of them a wake-up call and a bit of suffering along the way," Muir said.
"But you have to put the groundwork in so you can sustain a long life when you get to the top and you have to survive day in, day out - there's no easy games."
But securing principal sponsorship of the nationwide LMC is as easy as having your name plucked from a hat - literally.
The 12 netball regions embarked on the Great Sponsorship Hunt this season, each selling 10 raffle tickets with principal sponsor up for grabs.
Muir will personally conduct the prize draw at a special function at Dunedin's Edgar Centre today, Wednesday 10 March at 5.30pm. The winner will become the principal sponsor of the LMC. Each region will then draw their official team sponsor from its own remaining tickets.
"People are ready to support the development of the game and that's fantastic," Muir said.
The 2010 Lois Muir Challenge begins in Auckland on 20-21 March. Click here for the Draw.
SLIDESHOW IMAGE: Current NZU21 squad member Alanah Cassidy will make her ANZ Championship debut with Haier Pulse this season, after playing in the 2009 Lois Muir Challenge. (PHOTO: Dianne Manson).