While the Yukon's U-16 and U-14 rep soccer teams travel to several indoor and outdoor tournaments throughout the season, soccer player's over the age of 16 but under 18 years of age have always been left somewhat in the dark.

The Yukon sends a U-18 rep team to Canada Summer Games every four years but there is no such category at AWG, no trip to the national championships and rarely any trips to indoor tournaments Outside.

Whether it's because of lack of interest, since the majority of soccer athletes who remain dedicated after 16 join the Yukon Selects men's squad, or lack of competition the national championships have a U-18 category, but it's not too well attended the Yukon Soccer Association is hoping to buck the trend, starting this year.

Earlier this month, coaches Danny Macdonald and Jordan Kulicki took 12 players to the Alberta Indoor Soccer Championships, held in Edmonton, where they competed in the men's U-18 Tier II category. The Tier II tournament featured six teams in two pools, with a round-robin portion followed by finals.

The Yukon squad opened the championships against the top team from Edmonton, and unfortunately, came out on the wrong end of a 12-1 score.

'The guys came out not prepared to play,' said Macdonald. 'They just came out extremely flat. Their intensity level and desire to compete wasn't there.

'(Edmonton was) definitely a skilled team and it would have been nice to actually compete with them, to see measure where we are.'

Following the game, Macdonald let the players know they needed to have a better commitment than the first game showed, with better performances by everyone. This is not recreational soccer, he pointed out, it's competition.

'I was not polite,' he stated.

But as much as he was disappointed with their initial effort, the coach was pleased with the turnaround in Game 2 against Calgary's number-two ranked team, especially considering it was just four hours later. The Yukoners pulled off a much-needed 3-2 victory in a tight game and clinched a spot in the bronze medal game.

'The second game, it was a really great intensity level. The guys we expected to be leaders showed up and worked hard. It was a very impressive way for them to come out and play after the first game.'

To grab the bronze medal, they needed to get past the Calgary Celtic, the number-one ranked team from the Alberta city. Macdonald said the Celtic were quite a strong club and gave them a very tough game. While the final score was 6-2 in favour of the Yukon, it was 2-2 until midway though the second half.

The turning point of the game occurred when Yukon goaltender Kelvin Smoler got a piece of a shot by a Celtic player, but not enough, and the ball was slowly trickling in behind him. What looked like a sure goal was saved by defender Donny Richardson, who dove across and stopped the ball from crossing the line.

It would have been 3-2 for Calgary, but instead, just minutes later, the Yukon scored the 3-2 goal on the other end and never looked back.

'Kelvin Smoler really outplayed the other keeper in the final,' said Macdonald. 'That was one of the differences.'

Another factor was the Yukon's physical play. While the local crew really took to heart the fact they needed to play a tough, physical game, Calgary seemed to shy away from it.

'We do have quite a few bigger guys on our team who like to play physical,' said the coach. 'We actually did take a few penalties for it. But in the end, we wore them down.

'We were the fitter team.'

Macdonald was particularly impressed with the veteran players like Richardson and Eli Clements, who he called 'phenomenal'. He also pointed to Harrison Kwok, who was playing in what was likely his final minor soccer tournament representing the Yukon.

'And Kevin Pike, he was a younger call up from the Badgers (U-16). He did very well up front under the circumstances.

'Trevor Hookham was very responsible at the back and played a lot of minutes as well.'

The U-18 squad will now take a three-week break before resuming practices and getting set for the outdoor soccer season.

Macdonald is hoping to arrange a trip to Denmark in the summer, to set a new precedent for Yukon U-18 teams in non-Canada Summer Games years.

'This team existing is a step toward setting up a U-18 program long term,' he said. 'If you've stuck around (in minor soccer) for that long, you deserve the chance to travel to some competitons and experience something neat.

'Next year, hopefully we can do the same thing.'

The 12 players who attended the Alberta Indoor Soccer Championships are as follows:

Eli Clements

Marshall Ewing

Josh Hanrath

Trevor Hookham

Harrison Kwok

Andrew MacPhail

Cody Morrison

Branden Pike

Kevin Pike

Donny Richardson

Kelvin Smoler

Willie Quarton