There are those select few that are just born with natural athletic talent, much to the chagrin of the rest of us.

And if they're lucky, they're surrounded by incredible support from their family, teachers and coaches. Yukon volleyball player Roslyn Tait falls into both of those categories.

From the time Tait was in elementary school, she showed both promise and a passion for the game, and she had the support from both her father, Russ, who has been a coach in the territory for many years, and her older sister, Jana.

'She would come out and practice with my older girls when she was little and one day she hit a ball, and I thought, Wow. This girl has something special,' said Russ. 'And ever since Grade 5, she's always had a really fast arm swing and has always been a good blocker.'

It was Jana who pushed Roslyn in the early days, as a role model, and it was sibling rivalry that turned her down the right path.

'Jana was always more about basketball, and I didn't want to be the same as her, so I was like, I'll play volleyball,' Roslyn recalled. 'I always chose volleyball because it's such a team sport. In basketball, you can have one star player and they'll carry your team.'

It would certainly turn out to be the right decision. While Roslyn didn't start playing competitive volleyball until Grade 6, it only took a year before everyone else started to notice her potential.

At the age of 12, she was playing with the 16-and-under girls rep team, and at 13, she was trying out for Arctic Winter Games with girls that were four and five years older than her.

Fortunately, the other girls never treated her like she was stepping on their toes.

'I always felt like I would have to prove myself,' she said of playing with and against older girls. 'But the team would always take me in and encourage me. Even now, they always tell me they forget how old I am.'

Now 15 years old, this past season could be called monumental for Roslyn, who played on Vanier's senior girls volleyball team, even though she was in Grade 9, and also on both the Yukon's midget and juvenile rep squads.

The 18-and-under team posted some impressive results at Outside competitions this past year, including a 10th place finish out of 31 teams at the Alberta Open, which featured some of the best teams in Western Canada. The U-18 team also traveled to the Pepsi Cup in May, while Roslyn joined the juvenile squad for another competition the following week.

And if the Outside trips weren't enough, there were the Yukon championships, Super Volley, and oh yeah, the basketball season.

'It was busy,' laughed Roslyn of the past school year. 'I was always on a team, always taking trips.'

Somewhere along the way, Roslyn found time to attend the identification camp for the Canadian youth volleyball team in Alberta earlier this year. Four-hundred athletes ages 14 and 15 attend the ID camps around the country, and only 40 are chosen to then attend the selection camp later this summer.

Following the ID camp, Roslyn was told she had a pretty good chance of being chosen for the top 40, but she didn't receive the official word that she had made it until just last month.

'I don't think it was too much of a surprise because they had kind of hinted all along,' she said. 'I was glad, though. It will be good to play with people my own age and see how I compare to them.'

While Yukon men's volleyball player Mitchell Anderson has trained and travelled with Team Alberta in past summers, this is the first time a player from the Yukon has been invited to the national training centre in Manitoba, although it is the first year they've used such a wide selection process.

'I think it's huge,' said Russ. 'It's gratifying for other people to see the potential I've always seen and provide an opportunity for her to challenge herself at a higher level.'

Some of the girls that will be at the camp, which begins on June 30, have been MVPs and all-stars on their respective clubs and some are just beginning the game but show a lot of potential. A lot of the selection criteria at the camp is based on physical skill they look at standing reach, spike jump and block jump averages. But they also look at the athletes ability to see the game and read certain situations.

Russ believes his daughter will hold her own in both areas.

'She just understands the game really, really well,' he said. 'You can have as much physical potential as you want, but if you're not coachable and won't do what the coach wants you to do, you won't be successful.

'Undoubtedly, it will be tough competition. I'm confident she'll do us proud no matter where she ends up. At the Alberta camp, she certainly was right in the midst of it, so I wasn't too surprised that she made it.'

From the 40 girls at the selection camp, Volleyball Canada will trim the roster down to 16, who will then stay for another 10 days and train in Manitoba. From there, just 10 are chosen for the youth national team, which will travel to a competition in Austin, Texas at the end of July.

No matter how far Roslyn makes it at the camp, just the experience will open a lot of doors for her.

She's already featured on a Canadian volleyball prospects website, and this past spring, she was approached by a coach from one of the top clubs in Calgary about moving to the Alberta city this fall to train with the team. It was an offer the Taits discussed, but decided not to pick up in the end.

'It's an honour for her to be asked by one of the top coaches and you're torn, because it would be a great experience,' said Russ. 'But on the other hand, there's life and family too. Volleyball is not the only aspect.'

Roslyn will probably get a lot more attention at the Canada Summer Games this August, where she will represent the Yukon.

The Canada Games usually attract a lot of college and university scouts, and with good grades under her belt as well, Roslyn should get a few looks, even though she still has three years of high school left.

'Lorraine Kuhn, who has been involved in volleyball for years in the Yukon, said to me that she hasn't seen anyone at (Roslyn's) age, with that much potential,' said Russ. 'Lorraine is a pretty good judge of character, so I certainly respect her opinion.

'Whatever happens though, it's been fun to watch her play and I'm always proud to watch her progress.'