The final four cuts were made to the Arctic Winter Games U-17 boys soccer team Wednesday.

The decision on which four to cut was certainly not an easy one for coaches Peter Mather and Jake Hanson.

'It was pretty tough,' Mather said in an interview this morning. 'I was really struggling with who to take. I just kept delaying (the cuts) and delaying.'

'You always have questions,' said Hanson. 'We had 12 kids who were all very capable players. But it had to be done.'

Hanson and Mather were already struggling with the decision back in November, at the original try-out for the team.

In the past, the teams have been narrowed down to eight right after the try-outs, with two alternates named. But Hanson said this year, they kept 12 guys until this week.

'We wanted more guys to benefit from the traning,' he said. 'And we wanted to give everyone an opportunity to prove themselves.'

All 12 of them did just that, so it came down to a midnight meeting Tuesday between Hanson and Mather, to decide who would go to the Games in Fort McMurray, Alta.

Mather admited he considered just drawing straws. Hanson joked they could just put all the names in a hat and still be confident they'd have a great team whichever names they drew.

But Mather credits Hanson for 'taking the leadership role.'

'He put a lot of good thought into it,' Mather explained. 'He seemed to have a clear idea of how to do this.'

Nick Locke, Alan Binger, Jared Eeles, Forbes Campbell, Sean McDonald, Boris Hoefs, Paul Fraughton and Mayo resident Marshall Ewing benefited from the coaches' decisions.

All eight of them will travel to the Games at the end of February.

'We couldn't really pick a single criteria to pick the team on,' said Hanson. 'There were a few reasons. Partly, it just felt comfortable with these eight.'

Mather said positioning played a big role, as they had a lot of defensive players trying out for the team. Age and experience were also factors.

Eli Clements, Donny Richardson, Calef Staples and Harrison Kwok fell victim to numbers, although Hanson said they will still practise with the team.

'Players could still become injured or show a lack of commitment before the Games,' said Hanson. 'They (the alternates) could still be a part of the team. We could end up needing them.'

Richardson has already been named as one alternate. Though Hanson said he does have a second alternate in mind, he and Mather haven't discussed it yet.

'They're good kids,' said Mather, who believes Clements has the potential to be one of the best players to ever come out of the Yukon.

'We've invited them to come to Prince George to play with the selects (at the B.C. Invitational indoor soccer tournament in March). These kids are going to have lots of chances to gain experience.'

As for the eight players who made the cut, their next big experience will start in about 4 1/2 weeks, in Fort McMurray.

'We've got a really good squad,' said Mather, who in the past has stated this may be one of the most talented teams he's seen in the Yukon in some time. 'We're looking forward to going down and doing well.

'My expectations are that we go and the kids play as well as they can. We'll shoot for gold, but I'll be happy as long as they give it everything they've got.'

'This is a very offensively talented team,' added Hanson. 'Traditionally, Yukon soccer has been fairly defensive-minded. Peter and I realize the offensive talent we have, so we're going to take some offensive risks.

'Our kids should be very competitive.'