For 16-year-old Natasha Mewett, the love affair with bowling began when she was just five years old.

Eleven years later, Mewett is attending her third national bowling championship for the Yukon, this time in Newfoundland April 30-May 2.

'I've just pretty much stuck with it,' she explained in an interview Tuesday. 'It's something I've just always done.'

Mewett, who also participates in volleyball and basketball, represented the Yukon in Regina last year as well as Quebec in 2002. After placing 10th in Quebec and 13th in 2003, she admits the sport of bowling can be frustrating.

'If you don't beat the person or if you lose by 15 points, you can just pretty much give up,' she said. 'Sometimes you don't want to do it anymore.'

It's Mewett's determination and skill that has coaches Wayne Beauchemin and Kevin Murphy believing she may have a shot at a medal this time around.

'I'm hoping she gets within the medal range because she deserves it,' said Murphy. 'She has the ability, she's a very smooth bowler.'

The coaches are also pulling for Mewett because this will be her last competition for the Yukon. Her family is moving to Edmonton in July.

Mewett said she likes bowling here, because the competition is easier compared to when she bowled in Winnipeg. In most provinces, it takes three qualifying sets to get to nationals club, zone and provincials while in the Yukon, it only takes one.

She also enjoys the coaching.

'The coaching up here is more direct than anywhere else I've bowled,' she said. 'In Winnipeg, if you ask for help it takes like a week to get it. Here, if you ask for help, they're right there.'

While Mewett hopes to go out with a bang, she is being realistic about her goal. There are twelve bowlers in her category one for every province and territory expect Nunauvut, which doesn't compete and she wants to finish in ninth place.

'As many as I can,' stated the modest bowler, when asked how many games she'd like to win. 'If I can win them all, I win then all. If I win two, I win two.'

The competition will be tough, not only because of the talent but because Mewett will have to bowl 24 games in three days. Normally, the Yukon team bowls three games every Saturday for practice.

'Your arm gets really tired when you're bowling constantly for a while. Some days, your arm just falls off.'

For teammate Craig Beauchemin, who has also been to three championships, it's not his energy he's worried about as much as the distractions.

'I have to pay attention and not get distracted by the other people,' said the 12-year-old. 'Last time I was there (Quebec in 2002), the senior girls were bowling beside me. There were senior girls just yelling out cheers and it really distracted me.'

Beauchemin finished 11th that year, after claiming 12th spot in 2001 in Calgary. This time around, he's aiming for seventh or higher.

Joining the younger Beauchemin and Mewett at nationals will be Shawn Hamilton, who will bowl in the senior boys category, bantam Michael Heynen, Sarah Kolton in the girls bantam division and junior girls' Alyssa Wheler. Hamilton, Heynan and Kolton are all going to nationals for the first time.

Murphy and Wayne Beachemin have high hopes for all of the team members, but are cautious about results, with the tournament being strictly match play.

'If you win by 50 points or lose by 50, it's still only one point toward your total score,' said Murphy. 'You could be the best bowler there, have the highest average number of points per game, and then run into a hot bowler, lose those games and end up sixth overall with the highest average.'

The senior Beauchemin added it's when you win and against who timing is everything.

'We'd like to hope our kids will peak at this tourney,' said Murphy. 'I'd like to see these kids average, over 24 games, more than what they do in the league.

'It's tough because you don't know what you're up against when you're there, so it's tough to talk points.'

'This is very stressful,' stated Beauchemin. 'You will see tears and some tantrums. It's just very stressful.'

Both coaches said they'd be expecting too much to see medals from Heynen and Kolton. They're just looking for the bantam bowlers to get some points and enjoy the experience.

Wheler has gone through a growth spurt in the last year, which can cause problems.

'All of the sudden you're a taller kid who has to reach down to a lower ball,' said Murphy.

Murphy feels Mewett has probably been working the hardest on the team.

'I think Natasha is really focused on doing well,' he said. 'She's really the one who has put the greatest effort into really improving and putting her all into this.'

The trip to Newfoundland proved to be quite costly for the Yukon team, which left for nationals this past Wednesday. The team has been doing a lot of fundraising to help out with uniforms and pins, as well as lowering the travel costs.

Each of the kids have travel packages full of Yukon items, including the City of Whitehorse CD-rom which promotes the city, to trade with bowlers from other provinces.

The Youth Bowling Council, which runs the youth bowling clubs and championships, has allowed sponsorship to be displayed on uniforms for the first time this year, allowing the teams attending to lower some of the costs. Air North is the Yukon club's sponsor.

More than 430 bowlers and coaches will take part in the national championships, some in both single and team events. Yukon, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and the N.W.T. are only competing in the single events.

Next year, the national championships will be in B.C.