When Yukon athletes take to the floor at the Northwestel 2004 Western Canadian Gymnastics Championships, they'll be up against four provinces B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

While all of the competition will be tough, Alberta may very well be the team to beat at least in men's gymnastics.

'We're looking good,' said Scott Hayes, president of the Alberta Gymnastics Association, in an interview at Takhini Arena Thursday. 'I can't see anything negative. Alberta traditionally does quite well because we have a large selection of athletes to choose from.'

Hayes said there is definitely a key to the province's continued success.

'It boils down to dedicated coaches, volunteers and staff,' he said. 'Everybody has a very good working relationship.

'Our coaches have excellent training and education. We have some of the best coaches in the country as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I'm a bit bias.'

Nearly 90 delegates, including athletes, coaches and officials, from Alta. made the trip North. Rick McCharles is the coach of the Level 4 men's team, which will be competing against Yukon's men's squad.

'We have a very strong team here this year,' he stated. 'We came in second to B.C. last year. We don't know B.C. this year but we expect to average a score of nine.'

McCharles has six athletes on the Level 4 team, ranging in age from 13-15.

'A lot of them are pretty happy to be here,' he stated. 'This is the big meet for them, it's their nationals.

'I would say Level 4 is the most interesting and competitive division here.'

McCharles believes pommel and floor are his team's strongest events, while high bar is the weakest.

'In our warm-up we had a few kids fall off and get minor injuries,' he said.

While the coach has heard many positive remarks about the Yukon squad, he still believes B.C. and Alta. will fight it our for top spot.

'We figure it's us or B.C., so they better watch out,' he smiled. 'Our guys aren't doing a lot of difficult routines but they can do their routines consistently and smoothly.'

McCharles said while Alta. is expected to dominate in both Levels 4 and 5, the high performance category will be pretty split between a few provinces.

'Saskatchewan's got some really good gymnasts, but very few of them,' he said. 'With Manitoba, it's the same thing. They can't do good as a team, but individually they should be quite competitive.

'Alberta is less dominant in the women's categories. It's much more split between the four provinces in women's, but I'm sure B.C. is probably the strongest.'

Some of the competitors to watch from Alberta are John Hall, Austin Scruggs and Jackson Payne in Tyro; Damian Miller in Novice; Jamie Ellacot, who is the provincial champion, in Level 6; Mike Wolk and Randy Burke in Level 5 and; Ian Galvin and Adam Silbernagel in high performance Argo.

Alta. coach Richard Herb said the team definitely hopes to pick up some medals, but their main goal is just to have a really good meet.

'Definitely to get gold if you can, but that's not the main focus,' he said. 'I think just the experience for them is good.'

The experience has already been a good one for both coaches.

'It's a beautiful setup,' said Herb. 'It's nice to have good equipment to work on. And the hospitality has been great. Just the way everything's been set up is immaculate.'

Hayes agreed the fact this year's Westerns are in Yukon is a huge draw.

'Just to have the opportunity to come up here doesn't happen very often,' he said, adding he is impressed with the calibre of gymnasts in the territory.

'Considering the smaller membership you have, the results are excellent,' he stated. 'And we're hoping with this event, it will only build the membership for Yukon gymnastics.'

The Northwestel 2004 Western Canadian Gymnastics Championships began at 9:30 this morning and run throughout the day, as well as all day Saturday.