It's been nearly two decades since Volleyball Yukon has sent both a women's and men's team to the Canada Games.

The last time teams represented the territory at the Games was in the late 1980's, but four years ago, local coaches Russ Tait and Scott Shelton decided it was time to return to the Games. This August, their four year project will finally be complete when the men and women travel to the Regina, Sask.

'Canada Games is the biggest deal most of those in the sports environment will ever be a part of,' said Tait following the conclusion of the women's team trials Sunday afternoon. 'It's something they'll never forget.'

Thirteen athletes turned out for the women's trials Sunday, which were held at Porter Creek Secondary School. Tait said unfortunately, there were a few people who had other committments this summer including one of his starters this past season and decided not to take part in the Games.

'But the people I had hoped would be here are here,' he said. 'And they're looking forward to training and getting ready for the Games. It would be nice to have a few more offensive weapons, but it's a very keen group of kids and they'll work together and improve.'

The Yukon will have one of the youngest women's teams in Regina, since the age limit is 19 so most of the provinces will field a team of university players. The Yukon team will be all high school players after Melissa Laluk, who was a national all-star with Red Deer College this past season, decided not to come home this summer and try out for the team.

Jasmine Mooney and Rosyln Tait are both still midget age, so they have a lot to learn, but Russ is confident they can hold their own.

'When you compare (the Yukon with the provinces), there were about 200 girls at Alberta's first round of tryouts,' said Russ. 'There's more people in Red Deer than all the Yukon.

'It would be nice to beat a maritime team and be competitive against some of the big guns there as well.'

Russ said the local squad will set different goals every time, depending on their opponent. For example, when taking on Alberta, they will reach for a certain number of points each game, instead of winning the entire match. He said most of the girls have been around long enough to know they have to keep things in perspective.

'You can't prepare yourself thinking you're going to go down and win the whole thing,' he said. 'It's an opportunity for them to take part in something they otherwise wouldn't be able to if they didn't live here.'

Tait and his team hope to draw on the experience they've gained at Outside tournaments this past season. They recently finished sixth out of 24 teams at the Juvenile Pepsi Cup in Calgary, and also compted at the Midget Canada Open just last week. They'll have one more tune-up before the Games when they travel to Calgary at the end of July.

'It's a pre-Canada Games tournament, so all the Games teams plus some of the second teams from the provinces will be there,' said Russ. 'It'll be their first experience with volleyball at that level. It's the jump from high school to university level volleyball.'

The Yukon is expected to field a strong team in the men's competition, the majority of which will be high school seniors. The men will be coached by Vanier's Dwayne Stoker, as well as Volleyball Yukon's executive director, Sukh Sandhu. Sandu will also help out with the women's team.

The men are coming off what was considered a somewhat disappointing experience at the Pepsi Cup, where they finished 13th out of 20 teams. They ended up winning the bottom tier playoffs, but felt they had the potential to be in the top tier after finishing fifth out of 25 teams at the Alberta Open earlier this year. The Open was a Tier 1 tournament.

Here is the Canada Summer Games women's volleyball team, as choosen after trials Sunday:

Jana Tait

May Nguyen

Krystal Reaume

Jasmine Mooney

Kaitlin Stephens

Becky Young

Naomi Gladish

Jessica Ell

Kasia Leary

Jessica Rowat

Roslyn Tait

*Kristin Glass

*Nikki Belanger

*Denotes red shirts, which are players who will remain on the practice roster and may be called upon to play at the Games if there is an injury.

The men's roster has also been chosen, but names were not available by press time.