Nicola Lazeo-Fairman recalls when she was young and enjoying the wisdom of her soccer coaches.

"It's nice that you've had coaches along the way teach you things about soccer and now you get to share that with other kids,” said Lazeo-Fairman, who turned 15 yesterday.

She and 12 U14 and U16 Yukon Strikers team members are currently coaching the Mighty Mites, who at three and four years old are the youngest age group under Whitehorse Minor Soccer.

With such a young age group, the coaches take the kids through games like What Time is it Mr. Wolf and tag before involving the ball.

Even then, the young coaches teach the even younger kids the very basics, how to shoot, how to pass and, well, don't touch the ball with your hands.

Nicola Lazeo-Fairman, who is teamed up with coaching partner Jaylene Kelly, said she looks forward to heading to the pitch to coach.

"I think it's really fun and it's a really great experience to share what you've learned about soccer with all the little kids, and it's nice to see their first steps with sports in general and soccer,” Lazeo-Fairman said.

"It's really fun every single time.”

Nicola's father, Shayne Fairman, who is also parent-coordinator and manager of the U16 Strikers, recalls when Lazeo-Fairman and Kelly were the age of the Mighty Mites.

The coaching duo also brought in a picture of their beginnings with the beautiful game to show the youngsters.

"What's really great is watching the coaches interact with the kids,” Fairman said.

"I'm biased obviously, but I think we have a terrific bunch of girls on the team, and

to see them interact with young kids, it's really rewarding.”

The Mighty Mites program has been coached by the Yukon Strikers representative teams for several years now, and runs for six weeks at a time.

"It's a worthwhile program. It's a chance for some of the girls on the soccer team to give back as well,” Fairman said.

"It's the kids first real opportunity to participate in organized soccer. They all seem to enjoy it tremendously.

"They especially love getting the T-shirt. I'm told by some parents that they rarely take the T-shirts off, even after they finish the session.”

At this age, the joys of the game are simple.

For the parents too, Fairman noted.

"We tell parents, ‘We'll try to get them to be active for an hour so that it's easier to get them to bed that night,'” he joked.

"They tell parents it's not exactly World Cup soccer. It's basically designed to get kids active, to get them moving and get them playing games.”

The program can benefit the coaches as well, Lazeo-Fairman added.

"Once we're older, if we ever want to coach, it's nice to have some coaching skills,” she said.

"And it's a good skill in general, to be able to work with younger kids.”

The Strikers coaching the program are Lazeo-Fairman and Kelly, Chloe Turner-Davis and Janelle Cousins, Shara Kearney and Hannah Milner, Melissa Boone and Samantha Wintemute, Dancia Avery and Caroline Miller, and Camille Galloway, Moya Painter and Morgan Paul.