No matter what the outcome was in the final game of this years' Grade 7 Yukon Territorial Volleyball Championships Jack Hulland Elementary was a guaranteed winner.

That's because both of the schools two competing girls' teams managed to make it into the final, which featured a close game that ended, ironically enough, with Jack Hulland One beating Jack Hulland Two.

'The girls really hoped that it would happen and it was nice that it did because they wanted to play against one another,' said Valerie Ireland, the coach of Jack Hulland One. 'They practiced together and played together all year and they thought it would be neat.'

The tournament was held from Nov. 16-17 at three different locations, being the Canada Games Centre, Jack Hulland Elementary and Porter Creek Secondary School. It is sponsored by the Yukon Schools' Athletic Association and for the last five years has been co-ordinated by Golden Horn Elementary School.

Twenty-one teams participated this year and 16 advanced into the playoffs, held on Saturday at Porter Creek Secondary School.

All schools in the Yukon are allowed to take part in the tournament, as long as they can field a team of at least six players. Grade 6 students are also allowed to participate if the number of players on a team is low. Schools can also divide their teams up if the opposite occurs and they have too many players.

The tournament started in the mid 90s and is the conclusion of the season for Grade 7 volleyball. It began on Friday with a round robin, which was followed by playoff qualification and ranking. Saturday's format featured a double elimination playoff, with the exception of both the boys and girls final. The kids play for medals, but the real prize is a banner awarded to the winning school in each final.

Marc Senecal was the organizer and the co-ordinator of tournament. He also coached Golden Horn's boys' team, who finished second after losing to the Hidden Valley Huskies. Senecal was proud of the way his team played.

'I didn't necessarily have huge expectations,' he said. 'I wanted my players to learn the game well and to learn the concepts of volleyball and in that respect they really did well. That's what got us to the final, so I am really happy and proud of the boys because they understand the game.'

He said the tournament offers the players their first real exposure to competitive volleyball.

'They have the league, which is still competitive. It is one school against another, but this is the first time where it's actually for a prize, where there is a reward at the end,' Senecal said. 'It is fun to have the competitive environment and to do that you kind of have to host a competition and in this case it is the Grade 7 Yukon Volleyball Championships because the league doesn't count towards for points or anything like that, the league is just basically a lead up to this.'

Senecal, who has been coaching Golden Horn Elementary for seven years, said there are a couple reasons this tournament is so popular.

'Volleyball is a wonderful game for kids, it is user friendly and it is a very social game,' he said. 'It is just a wonderful game to watch and play.'

Tristan Olynyk was the captain of Golden Horn's boys' team. This was Olynyk's first time playing in this tournament and he was pleased with the team's performance.

'We did pretty well because Golden Horn hasn't gotten this far in a long time and we got silver, so that is really good for Golden Horn,' he said. 'Our coach wanted us to get into the medal rounds, but it wasn't really a goal, just to play our best.'

Olynyk is in Grade 7 and although he won't be able to participate in next year's tournament he said, he still plans to continue playing the game in high school.

Ken Taylor was the coach of Jack Hulland Two. He was impressed by the maturity shown by his team in the loss.

'We didn't have a single kid in tears after that final and that was great because many years you see some of the girls and they get a little tearing and they get so emotionally involved in it,' he said.

'I think they just really had it together, they are a good bunch of kids.'

This wasn't the first time two girls teams from Jack Hulland played against one another in the final. In fact, the last time it occurred was just a few years ago.

The team wasn't split up until the last practice when both coaches took out a piece of paper and wrote down all 16 names in attempt to make them both as equal as possible. The players were a close group, much like the two coaches, who have been friends since Ireland started teaching at the school three years ago.

Taylor said the players on both teams were really supportive of each other.

'When we beat their team in the round robin, it was just see you in the final, good luck with your other games',' he said. 'It couldn't have worked out better, I am really happy for the kids. It didn't really matter if we won.'

He said that there is no pressure to win next year's tournament.

'Our school is all about participation and having fun,' Taylor said. 'They'll be happy to have another banner to put up, but if that is what we were all about then we would have just picked the nine best girls out of the sixteen.'

Ireland said that competing in this tournament is really good for the girls on both teams.

'They got more games in, they got more experience in and next year when they go to high school they will have a few extra games under their belts.'

She said she cheered for Taylor's team in the tournament.

'Coaching all the girls this season, if Ken's players made a good play I would cheer for them just as much because we're all one big group in my mind.'

Jack Hulland will recognize the good sportsmanship and hard work from both the schools' two girls teams and one boys team, who came close to qualifying for the semi-finals, in an assembly on Tuesday.