From ages 12 to 17, and of numerous sizes, they all lined up together on the baseline Sunday.

Their skill levels may also have varied drastically, but their dreams and goals were the same. All 30 female athletes were in the flexi-hall at the Canada Games Centre for one reason to become better basketball players.

Basketball Yukon began a new Regional Training Centre (RTC) program for boys and girls this past weekend. The boys' program took place at the same time, but out of F.H. Collins Secondary School.

RTC is an elite development program designed to teach players individual and team offensive fundamentals. It also introduces aspects of sports science that are necessary to the development of elite level players and coaches.

The program is a key component of Basketball Yukon's strategy to identify and develop outstanding young basketball players in the territory. The program is directed and delivered locally and will maintain close connections to Canada Basketball, Basketball Alberta and Basketball BC.

The program curriculum has a heavy emphasis on developing individual offensive fundamentals and also teaches team principles of play. Players take part in seminars and receive information on sports nutrition, mental training, strength, agility and physical testing using nationally developed standards.

The athletes will take part in two to three sessions per week, for a total of 60 hours over the next three months.

'It's about helping the whole territory and the whole sport improve,' said Sean McCarron, the coordinator for the women's sessions and also the head coach for the Vanier senior boy's basketball team.

At the beginning of Saturday's session, McCarron talked about the opportunity for Yukon athletes to be successful, no matter how small of a community they come from.

'For a place as small as Whitehorse, we have teams and individual athletes that can compete nationally. Look at cross-country skiing, swimming, cycling and even soccer.

'Basketball has been different, because number one, it's always been more of a school sport. To excel at this sport, there are so many different skills you need to work on and perfect. You can't expect to learn it all in four months.'

Four months is the length of the average high school basketball season. When you compare that to the year-round training swimmers and cyclists put in, it seemed obvious to Basketball Yukon more needed to be done if they wanted to achieve success Outside.

High school coaches shouldn't have to spend half those four months reviewing fundamentals, pointed out McCarron. The idea now, is to have a lot of those fundamentals mastered prior to the actual start of basketball season.

'Basically, we're in pre-season, trying to get the basics down, like dribbling, positioning and shooting. So when the season starts, the coaches can focus more on team play.'

For McCarron, pre-season is also about fitness and discipline. Over the next few months, he plans to do a ton of court training and conditioning, which was evident at the first session on Saturday.

'It's the first one and many of them were admittedly running for the first time in weeks,' he smiled. 'But their work ethic and attitudes are so positive. These girls love to be challenged and love to be pushed.'

With such a difference in age among the group, McCarron admitted it can be challenging to keep all of their interest. He said it's important to balance fundamentals with some higher level moves, and also to keep the age groups working together for much of the practice, so they're all challenged.

'But at the same time, it's also about helping these older girls be role models for the younger girls,' he added.

The coach said he was actually quite pleased with the amount of Grade 11 and 12 players who signed up for the program.

'There are a lot of them that still aren't here, but we have probably the best players in town here, which is only going to make them better and make the younger girls better.'

One of the veteran players who signed up is May Nguyen. Nguyen said she was somewhat skeptical when she first showed up at the Canada Games Centre, because there were so many younger girls. But she quickly realized it was still worthwhile.

'The girls are a lot better than I expected,' she said. 'I think they're a lot better than I was when I was their age.

'And even though there are a lot of younger players, it doesn't make it any easier for me. I still work hard and help guide them.'

Nguyen knows from experience how important a full training program can be. When she attended the 2006 Arctic Winter Games trials last winter, she felt shaky and wished she had been playing and practicing for a lot longer that season.

She also believes the high school competition will benefit from the new program.

'It will be a lot more competitive now and that's a good thing.'

Basketball Yukon is hoping the next three months of training, followed by the normal high school season, will leave its athletes better prepared for the Western Canada Summer Games next July, followed by the national championships in August.

It's an opportunity to build on what was already considered a successful showing at this year's nationals, where the combined territories' U-17 juvenile boys team beat Newfoundland for its first win at the championships.

'Hopefully, all the coaches will be pleasantly surprised when the season starts,' concluded McCarron.