They've waited months, even years, for this and now it's finally here.

With just three days left until the opening ceremony for the 2007 Canada Winter Games, hundreds of athletes and mission staff, decked out in their newly acquired Team Yukon gear, filed into the Yukon Arts Centre Tuesday evening to get the ball rolling.

Hosted by Kelvin Smoler, a talented young local musician and entertainer, the pep rally featured performances by local band Take What You Can Get, as well as speeches from national track cyclist Zach Bell, Community Services Minister Glenn Hart and Team Yukon Chef de Mission Trevor Twardochleb.

'This is the largest Canada Winter Games ever and when it's over, it's going to be remembered as one of the best,' Twardochleb told the crowd, which also included parents, volunteers and supporters.

'My message tonight is simple. Be a leader. Be a proud and responsible ambassador of our territory.

'Be supportive and be champions.'

It was Twardochleb who would announce the name of Team Yukon's flag bearer, cross-country skier David Greer.

Providing the athletes oath at the Games will be cross-country skier Emily Nishikawa and badminton player Kaleb Dawe. Judo's Penny Prysnuk and cross-country guru Alain Masson will represent the coaches.

'We are all behind you,' stated Twardochleb. 'And I really just want to give it up for Team Yukon.'

Following the announcements, Smoler, who is part of the National Artists Program for the Games, treated the audience to some of his own phenomenal skills, performing a solo freestyle rap which he had written recently.

He also paid tribute to the late Peter Milner, who passed away in February of 2005 after a battle with cancer. Milner was instrumental in bringing the Canada Games to the Yukon, and this year's uniforms for the athletes and mission staff all feature a patch with the letters PJM in tribute.

'He would be so proud to see all of us here competing,' said Smoler.

Bell, who hails from Watson Lake and is now a member of the Canadian track cycling team, took to the stage to share his Games experiences. With three Arctic Winter Games, a Western Canada Games and a Commonwealth Games under his belt, the elite athlete had plenty to share.

'I'm just so proud to be a Yukoner right now,' he smiled.

One of the main messages Bell delivered to the athletes centred around choosing.

'In sport, we are what we choose to be. You have to go out there and choose to be champions.

'I just got back from a race in Los Angeles. There were three world champions in our race, but it was won by a 17 year old who was at his first international competition. He chose to go out there and win.

'Leave nothing to chance. Choose to be great and I'm sure everyone will be.'

Bell also spoke to the cross-country ski team Tuesday and had plans to speak to the squash team as well as students at Wood Street School today before returning to Vancouver, where he now lives and trains, Thursday.

He'll also be an informal athlete representative at a casual meeting with Canada's sports ministers while in town, talking about events such as the Commonwealth Games and the needed for athlete funding in this country.

In an interview just prior to the pep rally, Bell, who offered to fly home for a few days prior to the Games, spoke about how important it was for him to be able to help inspire young people in the territory.

'I'm trying to encourage athletes to really take advantage of having the Games in their home territory,' he said. 'There's so much potential for personal bests, having the entire territory behind you. I want to make sure they don't ignore that opportunity.'

Having experience with events like the AWG and Western Canada Games helped him immensely when it came time to hit the international stage last March, he said, pointing out he had more experience in a Games atmosphere than a lot of the other Canadians at the Commonwealth Games.

'Absolutely. One of the biggest things going through my head at Commonwealths was how glad I was I'd gone to Arctic Winter Games.

'It's the same kind of dynamics you have to deal with. Your performance has to be controlled in the same way.'

Bell spoke about some of the most memorable moments for him, outside of the actual competition, at various Games. The Commonwealth Games, he said, offered an amazing environment. Held in Melbourne, Australia, he said the athletes were embraced by the city, which made for a much more relaxed atmosphere.

'One of my teammates used to be a bodybuilder,' he explained. 'We had him up talking to a reporter, and then he just started doing pose downs. He didn't know he was being broadcast on TV, so it was pretty funny.

'It was just a moment from the Games I'll always remember, it was so lighthearted. Everyone was getting into the spirit.'

Similarly, Bell recalled an event he witnessed during one of his AWG appearances.

'A Russian team at Arctic Winter Games was celebrating a teammates birthday. They did the traditional blanket toss and I remember they almost threw him through the ceiling,' he laughed.

'It just opens your eyes to the fact there's a whole other world out there, and you only really all come together for events like these.'

The Canada Games may not include other countries, like the AWG do, but they certainly offer a fair amount of diversity, with cultural events going on daily in the ATCO tent, as well as multiple displays of artwork.

And the 2007 Games will also provide all of the athletes, coaches, mission staff and volunteers with the chance to be a part of history.

'You are a very special team,' Hart told the audience at the pep rally. 'You will be the first to compete North of 60.'

These are also the first Games with a pan-northern approach, including all territories in the experience leading up to, during and after the events. That's evidenced by the three torches which have been travelling to every community in the North over the past several months, and will reunite in Whitehorse Thursday to light the Games caldron.

So it was only fitting that Mascots Yuka (Yukon), Taiga (N.W.T.) and Uqila (Nunavut) wrapped up the pep rally together, mingling with the audience as Take What You Can Get played one final song.

Twardochleb, who has been to numerous AWG and Canada Games, left the athletes with one final message, as they got set to enter the final few days before competition.

'Yukoners are some of the greatest ambassadors our country has to offer. So prove it.'