This year's U17 national juvenile basketball championships will be special for Yukoner Tony Nguyen.

The 17-year-old will not only compete in his third and final U17 nationals, but Nguyen will also play on his first all-Yukon team at the championships.

Both teams in Nguyen's two previous nationals were made up of players from all three territories and he said being able send an all-Yukon squad for this competition is quite the achievement.

"I take a lot of pride in it," he said. "It shows our basketball program is developing and we don't need other help from other places. I think that is a big accomplishment."

In 2007, the territorial squad finished with two wins, which was an all-time best for the team at the championships. The wins came against Newfoundland and P.E.I.

This year's team will go in ranked ninth place out of 11 teams in what is expected to be a tougher competition without the help of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

The Team Yukon juveniles are comprised of 12 players. The group held a spring training session back in April, before final selections were made mid-May.

The U17 team started practising again during the second week of July, which has involved the players meeting seven days a week from Monday to Friday. This year the nationals are being held in Charlottetown, P.E.I. from Aug. 19 to 23.

During the practices, the team has covered everything from working on ball handling to passing, but one of the key areas of focus for the group involves the mental side of the game. This is in regard to its ability to handle pressure throughout the course of all four 10 minute quarters.

Being able to properly deal with issues of anxiety and stress will be one of the determining factors for success for the Yukon players, who will begin the tournament against what is always a very talented team from B.C.

This year's squad could make history by winning just one game, which has never happened before with an all-Yukon team at the U17 nationals.

Besides getting a victory, the team's goals are to be competitive and to play as hard as possible regardless of the score. Beyond that, the group is looking to win a five minute section in a quarter against some of the more formidable opponents, such as B.C. and Manitoba.

Heading into the championships, some of the team's strengths include how close the players are both on and off the court as well as the great play the squad has always received from Nguyen, who is its starting point guard. Each year that Nguyen has participated in the U17 nationals, the team has recorded at least one win.

One of Nguyen's top basketball highlights came in 2006 after the territorial team was able to beat Newfoundland. The territorial team won after Nguyen drained an overtime jump shot, which gave his team the one point victory. The final score of the game was 81-80.

Nguyen was also instrumental in both the team's victories at last year's competition.

"(Newfoundland and P.E.I.) came in thinking they were going to walk all over us and I think we caught them off guard because we came out running," he said. "They were on their heels and we were hitting our shots."

Nguyen said helping the team win a game in his final U17 nationals would be just as great as all three wins in his previous two experiences.

"We are definitely thinking about it," he said. "If we accomplished it before, we know we can do it again and I think it is a realistic goal that we have to focus on."

He said although the team is different this year without the help from Nunavut or the Northwest Territories, the players desire to win has never been greater.

"We all want to play," Nguyen said. "We have a great attitude towards the team and I think we will do well."

Along with Nguyen, the Yukon team will have four returning players from the 2007 U17 nationals.

This year's Yukon squad will also have the advantage of taking part in some pre-championships competition by participating in the Bluenose Classic basketball tournament, which is being held in Nova Scotia from Aug. 11 to 13 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Team Yukon will play against the New Brunswick's provincial team and two Halifax club teams.

Jamie Shaw is the head coach for juvenile Yukon team. This will be Shaw's third experience coaching at the juvenile U17 nationals, but it will mark his first time attending as a head coach.

He said he expects it to be a really enjoyable experience.

"We have a really nice group of guys on our team and I expect these guys to play as hard as they can every time they step on the floor," Shaw said. "I expect them to represent Basketball Yukon in a positive manner."

Shaw said it would be an accomplishment to be competitive with any of the teams at nationals.

"Considering the huge advantage the other places have in terms of population," he said. "If you look at P.E.I. they have four, maybe five times our population, so for us to even be competitive with them I think is a huge accomplishment. I think it shows how hard some of these kids have worked over the years to become basketball players."

He said the two main things the team will work on from now until the championships are handling pressure and getting back into position defensively.

Besides the juvenile men's team, a pan territorial U17 women's team will also compete in P.E.I. The team is composed of players from Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Yukon.

The pan-territorial squad has been training together in Whitehorse since July 14 and will also participate in the Bluenose Classic in Halifax before heading off to P.E.I. for the juvenile nationals.

Basketball Yukon will also be sending a U-17 Juvenile men's team to Charlottetown and men's and women's U-15 Midget team to Kamloops B.C. to participate in national championships August 4 -7.