Editor's note: this is part of a series of features being published over the next few weeks on the various sports which make up the 2007 Canada Winter Games, and the athletes who will be representing the Yukon in them.

One win is all it will take.

Just one win and the Yukon women's curling team can enjoy the sight of their coach walking around for an entire day, in front of everyone at the 2007 Canada Winter Games, sporting a headband. What more inspiration does a team need?

'He made that deal at the start of the season,' explains an amused Lindsay Moffatt, manager of the women's team and head coach Gord Moffatt's daughter. 'I don't think he really thought it would happen then, but I think he's probably getting nervous now because the girls have improved so much.'

Sarah Koltun, Chelsea Duncan, Linea Eby and Tessa Vibe have only been curling together since September, although a few of them had curled together previously Koltun and Duncan attended the 2006 Arctic Winter Games in Kenai, Alaska.

At just 13 and 14 years of age, the young athletes certainly can't boast a lot of experience, but Lindsey says she's been pleasantly surprised with how quickly they've come together.

'They're all very good friends. That makes a huge difference.'

Their opponents at the Games will not only have more experience, but will also likely be two or three years older. Still, the youngsters insisted they won't be too intimidated.

'We've curled with people three years older than us before,' says Koltun.

'We curl against people all the time here that are way, way older than us,' adds Duncan. 'We just need to focus on what we're doing, not what everyone else is doing.'

The Yukoners will have some high-level preparation on their side, as they head to the Canadian junior curling championships in St. Catharines, Ont. next week. Most of their competitors at that competition will be 19 or 20 years old, and some of them will go on to represent the country at the junior worlds. It's a tougher event than Canada Games.

'They'll be pretty seasoned by Canada Games,' says Lindsay, who attended a couple of junior championships herself as a teenager.

'It's actually kind of neat, because St. Catharines is the last place I went to nationals, so it will be the same driver, same hotel and same rinks.'

The junior championships will be the first time all four of the athletes have experienced curling competition on a national level, which can be a tad overwhelming. Add to that the Canada Games, where they'll be throwing rocks in front of the hometown crowd and it's a lot of pressure for young athletes to take.

In preparation, the group has been meeting with a sports psychologist and going through both mental and physical techniques.

'There's no way to know how exactly they're going to react,' says Lindsay. 'But they've all got good heads on their shoulders. They'll be fine.'

The fact they're not expected to make the playoffs, or even win many games, may also take some of the pressure off. The main purpose of the Games is to have fun, agreed all four athletes, adding they just enjoy being together.

'We don't expect to win,' says Duncan. 'We want to make personal goals and complete them.'

The manager agreed, pointing out the next few years will be a learning curve for the girls.

'We'll set some goals before each game, once we have an idea of where they stand, and we'll keep re-evaluating the goals. That keeps them from being discouraged all the time too.

'We want them to come out of it still wanting to grow and having fun.'

The girls have made no guarantees beyond the Canada Games with regard to how much longer they'll stay together, or how far they want to go. That's pretty normal for teenagers, says Lindsay.

'They have dedicated a lot of their time to this, especially for being just 13,' she adds. 'I think they're planning to at least go as far as another year, which is good.'

On the other end of the rink, the Yukon men's curling team is in a similar situation. Ranging in age from 12-15 years, Thomas Scoffin, Will Mahoney, Mitch Young and Nick Koltun came together a couple of years ago with a plan to compete at the 2006 AWG and then the Canada Games.

The first half of their mission was accomplished with a flourish, as they brought home the silver ulu from Alaska. Now, they have one last stop before they complete the second portion junior nationals.

'The original plan wasn't to go to junior nationals,' says coach Wade Scoffin, Thomas' father. 'But they have improved and advanced a long ways, so we decided we wouldn't be throwing them to the wolves.'

It was an event last November that convinced the families of all four boys they were indeed ready to step it up a notch. At the Nuway Crushing Cash Spiel, part of the World Curling Tour, the youngsters were up against adults, including former Canadian and world champion Randy Ferbey, and they impressed everybody, even winning a game.

Wade won't be accompanying the team to St. Catharines, since he'll be representing the Yukon at the men's territorial curling playdowns in Yellowknife the same week. But he'll keep a close eye on his group as they prepare for the Games.

'They know how to play the game and how to compose themselves.'

The boys have also been taking part in some sports psychology sessions and learning nutrition tips. Wade said they've been trying to take advantage of the Yukon government's Best Ever funding by bringing special guests up and attending seminars.

'This will be their first time at nationals, so it will be a bit of a reference point,' says Wade. 'We'll see how much they can improve and what they can take away from the experience.'

Like their female counterparts, Thomas, who at just 12 years old is the skip for the guys' team, says they're not intimidated by the fact their opponents at both major events will be older.

'I don't want to get too stressed about it,' he says. 'We just need to stay relaxed and play a simple game.'

'If we're down, we'll just pretend it's a new game,' added Mahoney. 'We can't get down on ourselves.'

With the experience of junior nationals and AWG under their belt, Thomas says the team's goal at the Canada Games is to finish higher than the other two territories. There will be two pools, one with six teams and one with seven, for the round-robin and both Nunavut and the N.W.T. are in the same pool as the Yukon, which means they are sure to get an opportunity to face each other.

Young said playing at home may prove to be the key advantage.

'We don't have to adjust to the time zone change,' he explains.

'We know the ice and we're going to have the fans on our side,' added Thomas. 'We're comfortable here.'

No matter what happens at the Games, Mahoney says he's just grateful for all of the opportunities curling has given him over the past couple of years.

'Since we're from the Yukon, we get way more chances than anyone from places like Alberta, because they have so many playdowns just to get a spot.'

In fact, travel is one of the biggest reasons the four of them enjoy curling so much, and will probably stick with the sport for at least one more season, even after all of the excitement this year is over.

'They all like to travel and curling is a great opportunity,' says Wade. 'Plus, it's not as much of an out-of-pocket expense as some other sports. And they get the opportunity to curl against teams that will one day be at the Olympics.'

All 13 provinces and territories will compete in the sport of curling during the Canada Winter Games. The ladies will hit the ice first during Week 1 while the men will compete during Week 2.