With the Whitehorse Minor Soccer Association already boasting upwards of 1,300 people in the outdoor season, and an unprecedented number of Yukon athletes playing college and university soccer outside of the territory, it seems only natural a re-vamped men's league would be next on tap.

While the previous Whitehorse Men's Soccer League offered competitive soccer for those high-level players who remain in the territory, as well as university students returning home for the summer, it left a few things to be desired as well.

So a group of local soccer enthusiasts came together recently and organized the Senior Metro League (SML), which will include three separate divisions and will hopefully encompass everybody.

'We talked about it last year and this year, there was a lot of enthusiasm with it,' explained Dan Macdonald, president of SML. 'We wanted to build a league where more people could play at a relatively high level.

'We realized there were some guys who weren't coming out to play, because of risk of injury and some rather competitive players in the (former men's) league.'

The first division of SML is Premier, which is elite, club-oriented style soccer. Teams in the Premier division will recruit their own players and then submit a roster to the league executive. The top division will include athletes home from their college or university teams for the summer, as well as the Yukon's U-18 rep team. Macdonald expects three teams to make up the Premier division the first year.

'Now players at the highest level can be challenged constantly,' he explained. 'They don't have to play with broad levels on the field.

'The U-18s get to play regularly as a group and they should fit in skill-wise. It should be a very good opportunity for them to get some much-needed experience. It should be the same for the U-16 team.'

The U-16 Badgers rep team and women's Selects will join men's players who are interested in playing high-level soccer, but are not quite as competitive as those in Premier, in the next division, Division 1.

Interested players will sign up for Division 1 and the league will put the teams together. Macdonald expects two teams of men to join the Badgers and women's Selects, although another team may be added if the interest is there.

'People can play with players their own level now,' he said. 'It just makes it so much more enjoyable.'

The third and final addition is the Women's Division. Women's league was successful about five years ago, explained Macdonald, but at that time, the Yukon's development program hadn't been producing a large number of female college and university players, and there was a very noticeable split between very competitive women and those who were slightly more recreational.

When the Whitehorse coed league came about, it filled the need for recreational players, but so many women joined coed that there weren't enough to field a women's league anymore.

'But now that we've had five or six years, I think there is a lot of potential for a good women's division, with the increase in women's university and college players from the territory.'

About 50 people came out to the tryouts for the women's Selects, which points to the increased popularity of women's soccer in the territory, Macdonald said. SML has recruited one of the younger girl's rep teams to play in the women's division, and expects other interested players to form two more teams.

Macdonald said there has been a lot of positive feedback from the public on the new league, so it's full steam ahead.

'The importance of this league is creating that sort of middle ground. We want to fill the needs of certain soccer players in town that have been left in the dark.'

The cost to join the new league varies by division. In Premier, there is a $1,600 team fee, with the possibility for each squad to seek out full club sponsorship. With a set roster of 16 players, it works out to $100 per player if no sponsor is obtained. But Macdonald doesn't anticipate any problems with sponsorship, pointing out that the community has been very supportive in the past.

Division 1 players will be required to pay $80 each while Women's Division participants will shell out $60 each. Macdonald said the league is looking at helping each of the teams in those divisions with a general sponsorship, to pay for jerseys.

Registration forms for SML are available at Sport Yukon. Action will start May 25 for the Premier Division, June 5 for Division 1 and the last week of June for the Women's Division. The reason the Women's Division is starting so late is because there is limited field time until Whitehorse minor soccer is done for the year.

SML is also linked to the summer soccer camp run by local coach Derric Lewis. All funds earned from the camp will help support SML and long-term, to help develop a field complex in Whitehorse, so players can have a dedicated soccer park.

'The soccer camp also employs students coming home for the summer, which is a great opportunity for college and university soccer players,' said Macdonald. 'They can come home, play soccer, and work on the field as well.'

Macdonald has also been instrumental in creating a full-time U-18 rep team, which travels to competitions year-round. In previous years, U-18 teams were only put together for events like the Canada Summer Games.

Earlier this year, Macdonald, who coaches the U-18s along with Jordan Kulicki, has talked about a possible trip to Europe, as a way for Yukon soccer players in that age group to end their minor careers.

Because Canada Games are only every four years, there are age brackets of kids who don't have a chance to make the team and miss out on experiencing a huge tournament, explained Macdonald, who coaches the U-18s along with Jordan Kulicki.

'We want to make it so kids who have committed to soccer for a long time have some sort of reward and we want to give all the kids as much opportunity as we can.'

Now, the tickets have been bought and the accommodations have been booked. Fourteen, possibly 15 (plans to take one more are in the works) players, the two coaches and two chaperones will be heading to the Tivoli Cup in Demark, about 45 minutes from Copenhagen.

Playing on 13 different soccer fields, surrounded by more than 150 teams from all over the world, the Yukoners will compete in the U-18 division, where Macdonald expects they will see eight teams separated into two pools.

'We looked at a number of tournaments in Europe, as well as the USA Cup and some events in California. But the costs of the USA Cup in Minnesota were similar to Europe. The cost difference wasn't enough to not make the trip to Europe.

'The cultural experience is just beyond the soccer. It should be a great atmosphere for them.'

The Yukon squad was allowed to bring two overage players (U-19) to the Tivoli Cup, so Nick Locke and Harrison Kwok, who both played for the territory at the 2005 Canada Summer Games in Regina, will join them in Denmark.

Kwok will already be in Europe on a family trip, where he will also be attending a World Cup soccer match, so he's planning to meet the team at the soccer tournament.

The rest of them will leave for Frankfurt on the Condor flight from Whitehorse International Airport July 6 and take the EuroRail from Frankfurt to the event. They will return home on July 20.

'We're getting into our training now and getting ready to go,' said Macdonald. 'We're doing Saturday morning runs, evening practices and other fitness training, as well as playing (in the SML).'