Yukoners continue to be spoiled by the 2007 Canada Winter Games, long before the event even gets to the capital city.

While the new Canada Games Centre is set to host thousands of athletes just over a year from now, it will also host hundreds more in the next several months, as test events for the Games make their way to Whitehorse.

It all begins with the 2006 YONEX senior national badminton championships, which are being held in Whitehorse this week. Twenty-nine of the top badminton athletes in the country, some of them former Olympians, will face off in both doubles and singles action over the next few days, with the finals in all events slated for Saturday afternoon.

'Everybody on the organizing committee has just been really anxious to get this going,' said Jean Francois Roldan, the lone Yukoner taking part in the elite championships, and also one of the main organizers. 'People from all over the country are coming here and it's really good, high-calibre badminton.'

At last year's national championships in Montreal, there were 65 competitors and Roldan said originally, the Yukon was expecting that many competitors as well. But due to travel costs and time restraints, a lot of people chose not to attend this year.

'Twenty-nine players is a bit on the low side, but it could have been a lot worse,' he said. 'We're still pretty happy. It gives us a lot of time to ask for people's feedback for the Canada Games next year.'

Ottawa's Stephan Wojcikiewicz is one of the top seeds in men's singles action and attended the Commonwealth Games for Canada in 2002. He was also the men's champion in 2004 before injuring his knee and being forced to the sidelines for last year's national championships.

Wojcikiewicz acknowledged that nationals are usually a lot bigger than the one's in Whitehorse, but said this is still the cream of the crop. He expects to be up against top-notch competitors in Bobby Milroy (the number one seed) and Andrew Dabeka (number two).

Everybody's style is quite a bit different,' he said, explaining that Milroy is the steady, calm competitor. 'Andrew is kind of the machine, the animal. I'm kind of the guy who is the finesse player, plays full court and attacks a bit.

'It's not fun to play me when I'm on, but it's real fun to play me when I'm not.'

Wojcikiewicz said the key for him will be consistency. If he's able to get things back, it will really open up the game for him and allow him to use his artillery. Wojcikiewicz is confident he's in top form.

'I usually train every day, but for the past month, there's been a lot of tapering going on, so I'll be ready for the competition.'

After arriving Saturday, Wojcikiewicz also feels he's had a good chance to get acclimatized to the Whitehorse facility, which he said basically has an international feel because it's so big. Most of the badminton clubs in Canada have facilities which are a lot smaller, he pointed out, and adjusting to a place like the flexi-hall can be challenging.

'It makes it more difficult to play, with the lighting and the air. Players have to play safe.'

Roldan also spent time training at the Games Centre Tuesday, his first time playing in that facility with real competition nets set up. Besides adjusting to the atmosphere, Roldan said it was good to watch some of the other athletes practice and get some of his own shots going.

'I'm playing a really good player from Ontario tonight. I'm just going to try and get as many points as I can and try not to make too many unforced errors. I know he's a better player than me, for sure, but I'm going to try and give everything I can.

'I'll try to make him run a little bit, work up a good sweat.'

On the women's side the athletes to watch are Anna Rice, who is the defending champion in singles, and Charmaine Reid, the number-two seed in singles and number-one seed in women's doubles. Reid was at the Athen's Olympics in 2004.

With athletes of that calibre showcasing their skills this week, Roldan hopes to see a lot of Yukoners out at the Games Centre watching the events� especially the youth.

'We want to build a new system for juniors, get them going for the next Canada Games, after 2007. This time around (2007) we're a little short on good badminton athletes, and one year isn't enough training time, but we want a strong team for the next Games.'

Badminton Yukon might also be interested in getting some local officials certified for the 2007 Games.

Roldan said all of the officials for this week's event are from Outside, since there are no national-level badminton officials in the territory.

The Yukon's badminton technical representative for the 2007 Games, Yellowknife's Ron Graf, is also one of the officials for the nationals this week, so he's getting some valuable experience.

So far, all of the visitors seem to be enjoying themselves. Several officials and athletes went dog sledding yesterday while some of them checked out the action in the Fulda Challenge.

Preliminary action at the 2006 YONEX nationals gets underway at 5 p.m. today, at the Canada Games Centre in Whitehorse.