There are few better training grounds in the lead-up to a big soccer tournament than the USA Cup.

Each year, more than 1,000 teams from 18 countries take to 52 fields at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn., for the Schwan's USA Cup International Youth Soccer Tournament.

That's enough to make any football fanatic's mouth water.

And the Yukon Soccer Association can't get enough.

The Yukon's U16 boys and girls teams heading to the Western Canada Summer Games in Kamloops, B.C., in August made the trek across the continent to compete in the USA Cup weeklong and weekend tournaments, which ran from July 15-23.

Quite a learning experience, boys coach Jake Hanson said.

"It just creates a really neat atmosphere for soccer, with soccer players and teams everywhere and games happening. It's pretty exciting that way.”

The Yukon has been returning to the USA Cup for the past three years, simply for that experience.

"It's largely because of the event, just because it's such a rich soccer experience,” Hanson said.

"If we knew of a better tournament to attend, we'd attend that. There's nothing to compare it to.

"What we've been finding is that, although it's costly and it's a trek to get there, they have the two tournaments back-to-back, so you're able to get quite a number of games.”

The boys played in the top flight of the weeklong event.

The Yukon opened the tourney with a 7-2 loss to Viva, out of Omaha, Neb. The boys followed up that performance with a 2-0 loss to Minnesota-based Wayzata SC and a 7-0 loss to Rebels SC Blue from Champlin, Minn.

Team Yukon was knocked out in their first-round playoff game with a 1-0 loss to the WBL Bears from White Bear Lake, Minn.

Team Yukon was represented by 13 players from the Western Canada Summer Games teams. Three players on the roster set for Kamloops were unable to make the trip, so the Yukon picked up two guest players for the weeklong and weekend tourneys.

Hanson noted that the team was young, with two boys eligible to play U13 in the event and only three players who were of proper age for U16.

Extreme heat mixed with thunder and lightening hampered both players and organizers alike.

In the weekend tournament, Team Yukon lost 1-0 to the St. Paul Blackhawks from Minnesota in a game reduced to two 15-minute halves due to long rain and lightning delays.

The boys then lost to the Howard Hurricanes from Wisconsin 1-0 in another match shortened due to harsh weather.

The Minnesota state record for heat was broken last week – 47 C.

At field level, temperatures rose to 35 C.

Those conditions affected all teams, Hanson pointed out.

"I wouldn't say our kids struggled anymore than any of the other kids. I was actually surprised with how well they did with the heat.

"But a real effort was made to prepare them by making sure they're properly hydrated, we had lots of water and ice, so we just took great care, and they did fine.”

But the Yukon refused to give up before the tournament end, picking up their only win in a 3-1 contest against HSC United. Yukon goal scorers were Colin Kabanak, Kieran Halliday and Michael Wintemute.

Hanson said he was focused less on wins and losses as he was on exposing his players to the high-caliber competition.

"I knew it was going to be a challenge, because we were playing in the Gold Flight and we had a young team and not lots of bodies to go around. I wasn't going down with a real expectation in terms of winning and losing games. It was just really about the developmental experience, getting to play good teams and seeing good competition, so I was really quite happy about that.”

Now with less than a month left before the Canada Western Summer Games, Hanson is hoping to see better execution on the pitch.

"It's coming together. Admittedly, we haven't had a great build up in terms of training. We've not been successful in getting good numbers for the training that I would like to see,” Hanson said.

"We haven't really been able to work on a lot prior to the USA Cup, so for me that was kind of the opportunity to really start to try some things and bring some things together.”