With a mix of rookies and veterans, the Yukon's youth bowling team will head to the Youth Bowling Council's (YBC) National 5-Pin Championships in Winnipeg next week aiming to leave an impression on their competitors.

Their goals range from second place to middle of the pack in their respective age groups, although every one of them is hoping to improve their average over the four-day event.

Loudyn Forsgren will bowl in the senior boys' division, Jonathan Koltun in the junior boy's category and Christopher Thompson in the bantam boys' division.

Bowling for the Yukon in female competition will be senior girls' athlete Natasha Mewett, Sarah Koltun in the junior girls' category and bantam Olivia Tucker.

For the three male bowlers, this will be their first time representing the territory at the national level, while the female athletes have all been to the high-calibre event at least twice before this year this will be Mewett's fifth year.

'All the guys are rookies and all the girls are veterans, so it's an interesting dynamic,' noted Kevin Murphy, who coaches the group along with Wayne Beauchemin.

'Jonathan Koltun, his sister is on the team and has been to several competitions, and Nicholas, his brother, has also been to nationals in the past. So it basically runs in the Koltun family.

'Loudyn is in his second year in the YCB program and he earned his way onto the team with a well-fought victory, actually over Nicholas Koltun. And Chris is brand new, but his sister bowled for us in the past.'

Murphy said Loudyn's strength is he has a big power game, so is capable of big scores. It's just a matter of consistency, said the coach. Finishing in the middle of the pack is what Murphy envisions for all three males at their first nationals.

Jonathan is just starting to establish his own game, said Murphy, so it will be interesting to see what he can pull off in Winnipeg.

Jonathan said he expects the competition to be tiring, with the athletes bowling as many as 12 games in one day. His personal goal?

'To do better than my brother did,' he laughs, before getting a bit more serious when talk turned to his training.

'I've been working on keeping my hands straight, on my release and not dropping my shoulder.'

Mewett has also been spending a lot of time this season working on the technical details of the game.

'My grip in my hand mostly, and keeping my shoulder up and reaching out. It'll be a tough competition,' said the 19-year-old, whose goal is to finish in at least seventh place, after grabbing a ninth-place finish the last time she competed at nationals.

Mewett had travelled to three nationals as a member of the Yukon team before moving to Alberta a couple of years ago. She represented Alberta at one national competition and then returned to Whitehorse earlier this year and rejoined the local crew.

'Natasha and Sarah both have the potential to do well,' said Murphy. 'Their game is very established. They're very smooth bowlers and capable of having big breakout games, especially Natasha.'

This will be nine-year-old Tucker's third straight YBC championships. She's been a crowd favourite in the previous two competitions, but hopes to step her results up a notch this time around.

'Olivia's still bowling two-handed,' said Murphy. 'She's just at the stage where she's interested in trying one-handed, but she'll still be bowling two-handed at YBC. Now's not the time to be transitional.'

No matter the style, Tucker said she's going to try her hardest to get into the medals this year.

'I've been working on my back swing ... not too fast ... and also not to move my wrists and to lock my wrists for when I let go, so it goes straight.'

The difficulty for the Yukon bowlers, when it comes to competing against their counterparts from across the country, is a lack of game experience. While the local bowlers just have to win their league to get a spot on the team for nationals, all of the provincial athletes have to win their home lane, then regionals and then provincials before they're in.

'The YBC program says three steps to stardom,' explains Murphy. 'These kids are one step, then in the big show. They don't have that added competition, or all the things that come with it. They could use the extra level of competition to really cement their game.

'It's hard to duplicate that.'

Murphy said he and Beauchemin have tried some different training strategies, in terms of changing the focus of the athletes' game. They get the kids to focus more on the first ball delivery and hitting their mark, he said. The emphasis is on results for the ball and picking up points, not just throwing the ball.

At the YBC championships, each game you win is worth a point, so the first objective is not to be shut out, said the coach. You want to win at least one game against each of your opponents.

'We've also focused on trying for the spare. If you don't get the strike on the first ball, being able to have the precision to get the spare, that's what separates the elite bowlers from the good bowlers.'

The Yukon has been sending individual players to the YBC championships since 2001, and did win a surprise silver medal in 2002. If they're going to get back to the podium, they'll need to continue building healthy competition within the local club.

Murphy said while the numbers may be up a little bit in the youth bowling league this year, more needs to be done in order to achieve true success.

There was a strong three-way race in the senior boys' division this year, but some of the other divisions just weren't competitive enough, he said.

We have to look at recruiting some new kids for next year. It's a great program for kids. It appeals to the competitive level and recreational aspect of a kid's social life. That's what's great about it.'

Winnipeg will also be hosting the YBC 10-pin championships at the same time, because they have the facilities to do so.

The two championships are usually held separately.

The Yukon youth bowling team leaves for Winnipeg on May 11. They'll be decked out in new uniforms, thanks to a generous sponsorship from Sima Storage, which also helped out with the team's travel costs.

Steve Kwok, the owner of Mad Trapper Alleys, has also been a huge help to the local bowlers, providing the training ground as well as various other forms of support.

'After the Canada Games, sponsorship for any team is probably a little tapped out in this community, so we're greatly appreciative,' said Murphy.