You could call it a sign of how far things have come over the past few years for Volleyball Yukon, as well as a sign of what's hopefully still ahead.

More than 100 Yukon athletes travelled South on the May long weekend for various national volleyball championships the largest group the territory has ever sent out for the annual spring tournaments. And for the second year in a row, the under-16 boys returned home with some hardware from the midget championships in Calgary.

Competing under the territory's new club name, Sub Zero Volleyball, the U-16 boys were joined by two U-15 boys' squads as well as two U-16 girls' teams and one U-15 girls' team in Calgary. At the same time, two bantam girls' squads hit the court in Saskatoon and a juvenile boys' team saw action in Vancouver.

'Normally, we just send one rep team for each category, to each tournament,' said Volleyball Yukon president Tara Wardle, in an interview back home in Whitehorse. 'But this year, we thought the more exposure these kids get, the better they'll do.

'We sent 64 kids to Calgary, which we've never done before. The learning that took place that weekend, we can't teach that up here.'

Joined by coaches Wardle, Sukh Sandhu, Al Foster, Carolyn Holoway, Russ Tait, Jordan Borgford and Michelle Power, the Yukon athletes put on an impressive performance at all levels, with each team recording at least one victory.

The U-15 boys did surprisingly well, said Wardle, and the U-15 girls won all their games in the round-robin before dropping three very close games in the next round. Of course, the U-16 boys were once again the talk of the locals as they fought their way to the Division II final and ended up taking silver.

Coach Al Foster was thrilled with his team's performance in Calgary, especially since his team had only been practicing together since January and most hadn't played in a real game since the Yukon championships last November.

'It was a total team effort,' said Foster. 'Our system was simple, but the kids really bought into it. They believed in it. Also, their emotion ... this group of guys really got fired up.'

The first day of competition had the Sub Zero boys in tough, as they were placed in a pool with a University of Calgary development team the Canuck Titans and a top team called Canada West, as well as a crew from Fort McMurray.

Foster said the Yukoners came out tentative in their first game against Canada West, which they ended up dropping. The tournament was held in the Olympic Oval, and with literally dozens of games going on at the same time, Foster said some of his players needed time to get over their 'wide-eyed amazement'.

'It was tough,' agreed team captain Dustin Myatt, a student at Vanier Catholic Secondary School. 'The first team we played ended up being one of the best teams. It was a good wake up call for us.'

Myatt and his teammates adjusted to the competition just in time to defeat Fort McMurray and then it was on to their next opponent, the Canuck Titans.

'We took them to three full sets,' said Foster. 'It was a tight, tight match. They were a lot bigger than us, not just in size, but sheer numbers. They were extremely well-coached.

'We stuck with them to the end, which was an incredible confidence booster heading into the next round.'

On Day 2, the Yukon squad was put in a new pool, where they came away with two wins out of the three games they played. By then, said Foster, their confidence was high and they headed into single elimination action last Monday ready for battle.

After beating Medicine Hat, they made it into the Division II final playoff round, where they ended up taking on the same Fort McMurray team they had faced earlier in the tournament. A trip to the gold medal final on the line, the Sub Zero crew rose to the occasion and sent Fort McMurray to the sidelines.

'We were so excited,' stated Foster. 'We went down there hoping to win a few games and there we were, in the gold medal game. It was Division II, not Division I, but it was still pretty exciting.'

With their fellow Yukoners cheering them on in the stands, the U-16 boys took to the court amid a raucous atmosphere. They were up against a club from Red Deer, which had a number of their own supporters in the crowd.

Down their starting middle, Harrison Ewing, due to injury, Foster's team managed to take the first set, then lost the second by just two points. They were leading 8-5 in the third set, then it was all tied at 13, but Red Deer managed to pull it out down the stretch and took home the gold.

'It was a hard, hard fought gold medal game,' said Foster.

Myatt agreed the last game was probably the toughest, because of the pressure. He said they were well aware of the fact no Yukon team had ever won gold.

Last year's U-16 rep team also made it to the Division II final at the Calgary nationals, and strangely, lost it the exact same way. They were also up 1-0 to Red Deer and lost 2-1, and they also lost their middle to injury before the final.

But while this year's U-16 boys may have once again fell short of the top rung on the podium, Myatt said just making the final was huge.

'We didn't expect to win silver. It was a nice treat.'

The Yukoners didn't have much time to celebrate their silver accomplishments, as they had to rush off to the airport and catch an evening flight home they couldn't even call their parents. It wasn't until they stepped off the plane in Whitehorse that what they had done really sunk in, said the coach.

'We played good. I've very proud of our team,' said Myatt. 'We all chipped in in our own ways. This is my third year going (to a national championship) and it's the best I've ever done, so I'm pretty proud.'

The Sub Zero U-16 boys included a player from Dawson City as well as a player from Mayo, and Foster was particularly proud of their performances. They weren't able to take part in a lot of the practices, due to travel, but both of them contributed just as much as anyone on the team, said the coach.

Foster said it's a sign of where volleyball is headed in the territory, that athletes from the communities are starting to make an impact.

'Volleyball up here is just getting better and better,' agreed Wardle. 'It was a phenomenal weekend, the way the kids played and how they stepped up. Every team played better than they ever had before.

'We now have people calling us and scouting our kids and that's never happened in the past.'

While the success of Volleyball Yukon over the past couple of years can certainly be attributed to the dedication of staff and athletes, as well as increased travel, Wardle said part of it is also the clinics local players have been exposed to.

At the end of April, former Canadian national coach Lorne Sawula was back in the territory, working with all of the teams which travelled over the May long weekend. Sawula was actually just named the British national team coach earlier this month and is now gearing up for the London Olympics in 2012.

Next up for Volleyball Yukon is tryouts for the Western Canada Summer Games, which will be held in Edmonton this August.