While the blazing sunshine on Sunday was a welcome surprise for most people in Whitehorse, it made things a bit more difficult for the young male soccer players trying out for the 2005 Canada Summer Games.

The athletes played for more than an hour in the heat and followed up the game with a five kilometre run. And while they were smart enough to bring plenty of fluids to the field, they didn't deny the heat took a toll on their abilities. But for the coaches, it was a good opportunity to evaluate the fitness of the 27 players.

Although it wasn't nearly as hot for the two-mile run on Friday, five of the athletes clocked in at under 12 minutes Paul Fraughton finished first at 11:04 which showed the fitness level on the soccer squad isn't much of a concern.

Head coach Spencer Rich named 20 players to the Games roster at the close of the three-day tryout three of which will be alternates and probably won't make the trip to Regina in August unless there is an injury or another player can't go for personal reasons.

'Some of the guys I thought were going to be pretty sure cuts did really, really well this weekend,' said Eli Clements, one of the youngest players to make the team at 16 years of age. 'I thought everyone stepped up their game a lot this weekend.'

Clements said he was pretty sure he would make the team coming into the tryouts, after attending the national championships with the U16 Falcons last fall. But he started to have doubts after his performance Saturday.

'I did pretty good on my first day. The run at the beginning wasn't my best, but I was sick. The second day wasn't that great. I know I made some stupid mistakes in the games, but all in all it went pretty good.'

One of the things Clements would like to work on over the next few months before the Games is his fitness level, a goal which was echoed by Chase Gammel, who will mind the nets with Jared Eeles.

Gammel injured his knee in men's league this season and has been wearing a brace ever since, which kept him from participating fully in training.

'I knew my injury was holding me back a lot,' he said, happy the coaches realized he had a lot more to offer than he could show. 'I had an idea (I might make the team), but it was a close call. Kelvin (Smoler) has been working really hard.'

Gammel is having an ultrasound on his knee today, so he will know more about the extent of his injury following the procedure. But right now, he said, it's looking good. He plans on just taking it easy and following the doctors orders for the next little while, working out at the gym a few times a week and attending physiotherapy.

'Whenever I get a chance to, I'll have a ball around me,' he stated.

Both Gammel and Clements are confident the squad will make the Yukon proud in Regina, Clements' first shot at the Summer Games.

'I think we'll have the strongest team we've sent yet,' he said, pointing out there are a lot of good leaders who have been the big competitions before.

'Boris Hoefs, he's always positive. He never says anything too negative when you make a mistake. I've learned some from all of them. They've always got a good attitude.'

Gammel agreed the core of the team is strong.

'I've been playing soccer with these guys since we were 11. This is what we've been working for for the last five years.

'Our offence is very, very strong. Our defence could use a little work, but that's mainly communication, I think.'

Goalie coach George Maratos said while the cuts were really hard this year, it was nice to be able to choose from some many good players. In the past, he said, they didn't even have the option of choosing because there weren't enough people trying out.

'(Having that many good players) just pushed everyone that much harder,' said Maratos. 'Competition is always good. That's where B.C., and all the other provinces, usually have the edge. They have like 100 people trying out. We certainly don't have that many, but we're getting there.'

Maratos added all 27 people that tried out this past weekend could have played on the team if cuts weren't necessary. He said every single player should know that however the squad does at Canada Games, they were a part of it, since they pushed the guys who did make the team to be even better.

'The youth that are coming up, hopefully they'll stick with it,' said Maratos. 'Yukon soccer just looks more and more promising.'

Here are the names of the Yukon men's soccer team for the 2005 Canada Summer Games:

Jared Eeles

Chase Gammel

Boris Hoefs

Paul Fraughton

Nick Locke

Alan Binger

Marshall Ewing

Donny Richardson

Calef Staples

Sean Macdonald

Forbes Campbell

Eli Clements

Harrison Kwok

Brandon Pike

Brenden Carey

Jeff Hills

Matt Thompson

Trevor Hookham

Charles Mann

Mateo (no last name available)

The women's Canada Summer Games tryouts were held earlier this month but roster names were not available by press time.