Six months of hard work will be put to the test this weekend for the 2008-09 Takhini Heartbeaters skipping teams.

The two groups are poised to take on B.C.'s finest Saturday and Sunday at the B.C./Yukon Rope Skipping Provincial Championships.

B.C.'s skipping provincials are being held in Victoria and will mark the Heartbeaters first competition of the season.

The two groups include a rookie team of five students in Grades 3 through 5 and a veteran squad of five skippers in Grades 5 through 7. They will be the lone Yukon skipping teams at the provincials.

The Heartbeaters veteran group will also compete in Abbotsford, B.C. in May at this year's Canadian Rope Skipping Federation National Championships.

The top eight teams at B.C. provincials qualify for nationals. However, this year there is only seven squads in the more experienced category, assuring the Heartbeaters team a spot.

"We got a chance," said Heartbeaters coach Judy Ratcliffe laughing. "They work well together, and they have some difficult tricks in there with push ups and donkey kicks."

There are no tryouts or age requirements for the Heartbeaters, but skippers must be at a certain skill level to make the team.

The B.C. skipping competition is divided up with a team event on Saturday and an individual competition, held Sunday.

In preparation for the provincials, the Heartbeaters have been training five times a week at Takhini Elementary School.

"It's a lot of dedication, dedication and commitment because lots of times they'd like to do other things-and they work hard," said Ratcliffe. "I just think they need to go and have fun, they have worked hard all year and we need to just go and do what we practiced."

Ratcliffe, who is also a teacher at Takhini Elementary School, said both teams have improved over the six months of training. She said the veteran group's team performance is a lot more technical than it was earlier in the season.

Ratcliffe also praised the rookie team, saying the skippers on it are "very strong."

"These guys have skipped for years, but not in competition, so they can still be a rookie, so they are strong," she said. "They can do clean routines."

Alex Schultz, 13, has been a member on the Takhini Heartbeaters since she was in Grade 1 and has competed at the B.C. provincials on six previous occasions.

This weekend's competition will mark Shultz's final B.C. provincials as a member of the Heartbeaters.

"It's going to be sad leaving, but it's a change," she said. "I'm going to be going in other sports, so that will keep me active."

For Schultz, the competitions have always been the best part as a member of the Heartbeaters. She said she still gets nervous on the plane, but expects to be fine for the start of Saturday's event.

"We've been practising for a while," she said. "I'm confident."

Schultz said she takes pride in the Heartbeaters being the lone Yukon representative at the B.C. provincials.

"I really enjoy being the only team because then we get to travel around the Yukon and show people what we can do and maybe one day there will be other Yukon teams too," she said.

It's an exciting and nervous time for 10-year-old Emily Bishop, who this weekend will take part in her first skipping competition.

Bishop, one of the members of the rookie Heartbeaters team, said she is hoping to beat her personal best double under score.

"I want to be able to do my personal best and hopefully beat my personal," she said.

Bishop, who is in Grade 5, said she has noticed an improvement in her skipping recently and said she is excited about both the team and individual competitions this weekend in Victoria.