Whitehorse's high school volleyball season will officially begin today.

The Early Bird Volleyball Tournament jump starts the season today. The seniors will start 4 p.m. today at F.H. Collins Secondary School and play until 8 p.m.

Vanier Catholic Secondary School will host the juniors from 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. today, with competition resuming Saturday from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. at F.H. and 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. at Vanier.

"The Early Bird tournament is just an opportunity for kids to get out and start playing,” said Jamie Shaw, head of the phys. ed department at F.H. "It's our kick-off tournament for the year.”

The seniors will play four games apiece in a round-robin format, and finish earlier on Saturday because there are fewer teams.

"We don't keep scores and we don't rank teams at the tournament – everybody just plays,” Shaw said, noting that games go for an hour, which usually breaks down into two sets.

"If they're tied they're tied, we just move on from there.”

Generally, the turnout for volleyball in the schools around Whitehorse is high, Shaw said.

"We just want kids out playing and enjoying the sport,” he said.

Following this weekend's tourney, the Super Volley League is set to begin, with finals in November.

The Dawson Invitational Tournament also comes around Halloween.

The name of the game for the Early Bird tourney is fun, Shaw said.

Afterwards, kids can take the sport as far as they want, he added.

"This just gives everybody a chance to play, and then they can decide if they want to keep going after that.”