The U8 Developmental soccer team passed the first step.

The Yukon club was recently selected one of 75 Early Bird Prize winners in the BMO Team of the Week Contest, and won 10 BMO branded soccer balls, 20 water bottles and 20 lanyards, valued at approximately $400.

BMO Team of the Week winners receive $500, track suits and a donation to a local charity.

The Wolves of Gabriola Island, B.C., was named winner for April 20-27 and the SWU Red Devils of Calgary, Alta., won for April 27-May 4.

Winners will be announced over the next 13 weeks.

Each winning team will become finalists for the grand prize – $125,000 in field refurbishment, a trip to see a Toronto FC or Vancouver Whitecaps FC home game and $5,000 in their chosen charity.

All Canadians will be able to vote for their favourite team starting Aug. 1.

The deadline to enter teams into the contest is June 30.

U8 manager Colleen Benoit, who recently nominated the group for Team of the Week, encourages people to view the club's profile on BMOsoccer.com.

"It puts us on their website, and how fantastic would it be to get the grand prize of $125,000?

"It would be amazing – $125,000 is huge for a team, for any of these fields. We've got nice fields up here mind you, but how many of them couldn't use something.

And just to be known, put on the map – Whitehorse, Yukon. It's a small community, but it would absolutely put these little kids on the map,” she said, adding that the application form included a skill testing question, "that was actually pretty hard,” she laughed.

Benoit credits the opportunity to U10 manager Jolene Jacobs, who sent information about the contest to different teams within Whitehorse Minor.

"I didn't realize it was so early, and we were one of the first teams to enter in,” Benoit said.

Five teams within the Yukon Soccer Club are eligible to enter the contest and are currently working toward nominations.

The teams are hoping to kick off soccer season mid-May – "fields permitting,” Benoit said, adding that the club is looking for more interest from the girls.

Her daughter, Sydney, is currently the only girl on the team.

"They're a close little team,” Colleen said.

Anyone interested in registering for the developmental team can do so at the Yukon Soccer Association website.

The U8 Development team is the youngest of its kind within Whitehorse Minor.