Watching Lorne Sawula conduct the volleyball camp in front of the dozen or so young athletes at Vanier Catholic Secondary School Friday evening, it was evident the national coach felt right at home.

Sure, Sawula knows what he's talking about when it comes to volleyball more than 20 years as a coach for Canada will do that to you but he also knows what to expect when it comes to the athletes and situations in Whitehorse. After all, he's been here numerous times.

In the 1970s and '80s, Sawula was a regular fixture on the local volleyball scene, conducting clinics for the Arctic Winter Games. Back then, Vanier and Yukon women's coach Russ Tait was just a student, as was Lorraine Kuhn, who was instrumental in starting a good women's volleyball program up north.

'I know a lot of people from different days gone by,' Sawula laughed.

While the women's national coach made regular trips to Whitehorse back then, he spent much of his time in the '90s overseas, and this past weekend was his first visit to the territory in years. He decided to venture back north because the volleyball program seems to be picking right up again, with numerous Yukon athletes prepared to make the jump to university and college ball and several already there.

'In the '70s and '80s, it was a hotbed, but there's a lot more sports now. Because of people like Russ and Vicki (Dawe) and Dwayne (Stoker), you're starting to really build up volleyball again, which is great.

'All you need now is a little bit of a push, so for me, it's a really fun time to be here.'

Because it's a Canada Games year, Sawula's main purpose for this trip was to work with both the men's and women's Games teams, although he also spent time with other high school athletes at both Porter Creek and Vanier.

While he was in Calgary last month, when both the men's and women's teams did extremely well at the Alberta Open, Sawula didn't really get a chance to check out the talent until this last week.

'I've been impressed,' he stated. '(Thursday) I worked with the guys for the first time, and there's some players there that will go on to be good university and college players for sure. And same here, with the girls.'

The clinics last week featured both off-court sessions and actual drills, with a heavy emphasis on the importance of training as much as possible. While volleyball may be popular in Canada once again, Sawula said the athletes still need to get more serious about how they train.

'We've got 12 countries that are decent (in volleyball), and some countries are doing nothing but training,' he said.

'I just hope I excite some people here on wanting to play volleyball, and help the coaches learn new things as well. Who knows, maybe we'll find a girl or guy who will come out to a tryout one day and make it.

'Every country has got their skilled athletes, and sometimes they're in the weirdest and smallest places. So if I can get to some of those places, that makes me happy.'

For Jana Tait, the captain of the Vanier volleyball team, the clinic was hard work but well worth it.

'It's been awesome,' she said. 'I know he knows a lot about volleyball, so he can teach us a lot of stuff. I've been to his camps before (Outside), so I've heard a lot of it already, but there's still lots of little things I'm learning.

'He's the national team coach, so he's the best.'

So what's the secret to being 'the best'? Sawula is both approachable and strict, friendly and tough.

'I always say if the coach is yelling at someone, that's a good sign. That means he wants to see improvement. If I'm not yelling at you, then you're in trouble, because it means I've forgotten about you.'

There wasn't too much yelling during Friday's session, but the local players shouldn't take that as a bad sign, since Sawula is just getting to know them. Janna said just having someone of Sawula's calibre making trips to the Yukon once again is 'huge.

'Just because we're from the Yukon, it doesn't mean we don't have skilled players. For those players to get recognized and seen by a national coach, and to get the advice of the national team coach, that's huge.'

Besides bringing back Sawula, Volleyball Yukon is also doing the right thing by starting traditions such as Super Volley, where the school teams face off against each other on a weekly basis, in front of rambunctious crowds.

'That's what it's all about,' said the national coach. 'These kids learn how to handle a pressure situation. It goes from recreation to what we call reality.'

As long as coaches like Russ and Dawe keep 'giving unselfishly with their time,' he added, the future for the sport of volleyball in the Yukon looks bright.

'If they leave, then I will start to worry.'