The Canada Games Centre willl host the Whitehorse leg of the annual Juneau

Exchange soccer tournament this coming weekend.

The tournament, which is put on by the Whitehorse Rapids soccer club, will feature eight teams competing in two divisions, co-ed and men's over 35.

In March, the Whitehorse teams traveled south to compete in first-half of the tournament.

This time around, two clubs from Juneau will be making the trip up to Whitehorse.

"The last tournament was amazing, it was a blast over there,” said Sylvain Lafferiere, tournament organizer.

"Now we're just waiting for the Juneau teams to arrive.”

The tournament is scheduled to kick off on Friday night and run until Sunday afternoon, with the play-off games taking place in the morning.

The Juneau teams will be arriving by ferry on Friday morning.

Joe Morrison, who competed on the American side of the event, said that many of the same players would be playing once again.

"A lot of us from the first tournament have been playing together on Monday nights,” he said.

"We've been staying fresh and keeping in touch that way.”

The additional time on the pitch may pay dividends for the Whitehorse squads as they attempt to improve upon their performance in Juneau.

"They beat us pretty badly when we went there so we're hoping for a home field advantage now and to give them a good game,” said Morrison.

The tournament, which is now in its sixth season, made some amendments to the structure this year by hosting the two divisions separately.

"It's basically like two tournaments in one,” said Morrison.

"The two divisions don't play each other.”

The new system received a positive reception from the players and Lafferiere is looking forward to a competitive showing in Whitehorse.

Last year, the entire tournament was held as a co-ed event and this year Lafferiere opted to try something different.

He also took into account the abilities of the player and attempted to match the teams up as evenly as possible.

"We try to make it as close as we can,” he said, of the teams and divisions.

"But you never know what's going to happen during the weekend, someone could get injured or cancel at the last minute.

"It's more fun if you win or lose by one goal compared to winning or losing by ten goals.”

Lafferiere said the most cumbersome task in organizing the tournament was getting the word out.

"The main thing is getting everyone registered,” he said.

"To organize the tournament you make a schedule and some forms and a few hours of logistics but the main problem is advertising and getting people to register.”

Lafferiere said the action on the field was even better than anticipated in the March tournament and this time around, the Whitehorse players have a better idea of what to expect.

The Whitehorse squads were forced to adjust to a larger playing surface and the teams had little time to prepare.

They were unable to capture a medal in any of the final games but will be looking for redemption this time around.

"It's really strong competition,” he said.

"A player like me with medium skills can have a hard time competing.”

The tournament concludes the indoor soccer season with many of the athletes signing up for the summer league and embracing playing in the outdoors again.

Lafierre is also hoping for a home field advantage and encourages fans to come out and watch some of the action.

"It would be fun if a lot of people can come and watch it,” he said.

"It's good soccer and good competition.”