Editor's note: this is part of a series of features being published over the next few weeks on the various sports which make up the 2007 Canada Winter Games, and the athletes who will be representing the Yukon in them.

'Freedom, you can do whatever you want.'

Liam Ferguson finds it easy to describe what he loves about snowboarding, but it's even more evident when he's seen in the terrain park at Mount Sima, taking a jump and pulling off a trick before he lands perfectly and continues boarding down the hill.

Ferguson, 17, is one of four competitors who will make up the Team Yukon half-pipe snowboarding crew for the Canada Games next month, when the sport makes it's debut as a demonstration event at the Games on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28.

Also making up the Yukon team are Katrina Couch, Gabe McFarlene and Wheaton Symington.

The territory doesn't have a team in the parallel giant slalom snowboarding competition.

Over the season, as coach Dustin Heise has watched the team develop, his goals for the athletes have changed with each visit from Vancouver, where he's based.

On Friday, Couch and Ferguson worked with Heise at Mount Sima on their tricks to get ready for the Games. McFarlene and Symington weren't able to make the training session.

Heise originally wanted to see the four have a fun season, learn to have a good clean run and be able to 'stomp our runs', landing their jumps and tricks. As he's watched them progress though, he said, he now believes there could be some top 10 Yukon finishes. There could even be a top five finish for the territory, provided the athletes do all the right training.

'Anything can still happen,' he said.

For a territory where competitive snowboarding is still relatively new and where the team members will be up against more experienced and competitive snowboarders from major ski resorts like Banff or Whistler, a top 10 spot would be an excellent accomplishment.

To get the athletes ready for a national competition, the team travelled to the Big White resort in Kelowna, British Columbia for a provincial event last month. They will travel down to Big White again for another provincial race in February before the Games.

Heise said the team went above his expectations at the last major competition.

Ferguson placed 21st out of a total of 36 competitors in the men's category, with Couch coming in 14th out of 16 snowboarders in the women's half-pipe event. McFarlene came in 17th.

Heise noted going to such competitions has shown the boarders how to compete and focus on technique.

'My level has improved 100 per cent this year,' Couch said in an interview.

That improvement has come with a coach who is only able to visit the territory for training every few weeks.

What it means for the team though is having the discipline to make sure they do their off-hill training.

'They need to be out there going to the gym,' said Heise.

In addition to the two days a week that they go to the gym, there's also yoga and trampoline classes through the week for the team.

If there's a positive to come from having a coach based so far away, it's that when he does come to town for training, the team is more focused and generally doesn't feel burnt out, he said.

For Ferguson the routine has meant doing some sort of training each day whether that be boarding, yoga, trampoline work or going to the gym. In the past, snowboarding was just a matter of coming up to the hill every weekend to ride, he said.

Going into it competitively has allowed him to see how well he's doing in the sport compared to others and look at what he has to do to get better.

Like Ferguson, Couch enjoys the improvements she's seen as she continues to compete.

'It pushes your whole level of snowboarding,' she said.

As for her love of snowboarding itself, she pointed out there's an adrenaline rush that comes from boarding.

'Just look around,' she said sitting down in the terrain park on the hill.

Although Mount Sima remained closed throughout the Christmas break due to a chairlift problem, Heise and the two boarders noted it didn't have a huge impact on their training.

While Couch had scheduled lots of time at the hill over the school holiday, she said instead she went to the gym and had some time to rest before the provincial snowboard series in Kelowna.

In 2002, Couch first competed at the Arctic Winter Games and was chosen again for the team in 2004, when she brought home bronze and silver medals in snowboarding events.

A snowboarder for seven years, at 19, Couch just made it through the age limit for the Games and noted she's looking forward and focusing on one of the biggest competitions she will likely face.

After the Games, Ferguson wants to take his snowboarding to national competitions and also has his sights on spending a month training in New Zealand over the summer.

While Games' medals in snowboarding won't count towards a region's medal total because it's a demonstration sport, Heise is pleased to see it added to the list.

'It brings a youthfulness and new excitement to the Games',' he said.

He predicts it could become one of the most popular spectator sports at the Games, along with hockey, but was also is quick to admit his opinion is a little biased.

The addition of snowboarding at the Games could also improve the prominence of the sport in smaller communities as it opens more opportunities for competition.

'The Yukon's a prime example,' he stated, also pointing to an impact it's having in places like the East Coast.

In the territory, Heise said he'd like to see more prospective coaches take on the role at Mount Sima. Last year Heise started spending time in the territory when he came up to certify coaches in the sport.

By last summer, a coach for the Yukon's Canada Games team hadn't been found, so Heise opted to take on the role in an effort to 'give the underdog a chance'.

Since then the team has been working to get their runs down pat and learn what it takes to compete on a national scale so they're ready for the Games.