Rising Midlands hockey players now know what it takes to be an elite athlete after being given a training run through applied techniques at Wintec's state-of-the-art sport science facilities.

Both the Midlands hockey under-18 men's and women's sides were part of last night's session, signaling the start of Wintec's sponsorship of the two sides.

Tauranga's Garrick du Toit undergoing a VO2 max test.

The Midland's association encompasses the Bay of Plenty, Counties Manukau, Tauranga, Thames Valley and Waikato.

Among the players are 16 Tauranga or Bay of Plenty players, spread across the two squads of 18, including Mikayla Hazelwood, Isabella Kirk, Ethan Martin and Garrick Du Toit.

Midlands Hockey's high performance director Simon Brill believes the elite insight and training session will benefit the athletes two-fold.

'It introduces the concepts of elite training while providing this group with an insight into just a few of the tertiary education options available at Wintec,” says Brill.

Wintec centre for sport science and human performance director Greg Smith is pleased to partner with Midlands and is excited about the value they will add to the teams.

'To be competitive, athletes rely on skilled practitioners for the latest and best scientific information and techniques,” says Smith.

'We have some highly skilled and experienced lecturers working with us at Wintec. It is great to have them sharing their knowledge and helping to mold our region's up and coming athletes.”

Wintec staff will continue to work with teams at the facilities throughout the year.

The New Zealand National Regional Under-18 Tournament begins in Napier on Sunday, July 6.

Both teams have four New Zealand age group squad members, including Aidan Sarikaya and Frances Davies who have been named in the New Zealand Hockey 5 teams – competing at the World Youth Olympics in China in August.