Editor's note: this is part of a series of features being published over the next few weeks on the various sports which make up the 2007 Canada Winter Games, and the athletes who will be representing the Yukon in them.

Rest, relaxation and a good plate of food in front of you.

Those are three of the key ingredients the Yukon's cross-country skiing team is stressing prior to the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse next month.

Oh, and a little cleanliness wouldn't hurt either. Seriously.

'Washing your hands is the biggest one,' says ski team member Bryn Knight, when asked for tips on staying healthy before and during the Games. 'You should be washing your hands constantly and eating the right food.

'It's definitely important to go into the Games healthy.'

Knight knows what she's talking about. A competitor at the 2003 Games in New Brunswick, the athlete caught a bug going around athletes village, throwing off her week's performances.

'There are usually bugs going around, so lots of athletes get sick,' agrees Team Yukon head coach Alain Masson, who has coached the territory at the past three winter Games and skied as an athlete in one earlier as well.

'If you get sick, you're pretty much done for the week. We want everyone to have their best races this year.'

Knight still managed to finish in the top 30 in one of her races in 2003, which was impressive for a then-13-year-old. The maximum age for cross-country skiing at the Canada Games is 23.

Now 17 years old, Knight is wiser and much faster. She's been to a few western and national championships, as well as the Arctic Winter Games. Knight will be one of three Yukon women competing for their second time at the Games, as well as Emily Nishikawa and, hopefully, Brittany Greer.

Greer currently races for the University of Alaska Anchorage and should find out this week whether she'll fly home next month or represent her school at the NCAA championships, which are around the same time as the Games.

Masson knows the NCAA championships would be a huge opportunity for Greer, but no one would blame him if he was secretly wishing his top skier would be able to race on home soil.

'Individually, she's probably our best chance at a top result,' he admits. 'The others are only junior skiers and with the age limit of 23, it will be tough. That includes everyone in the country except the national senior team athletes.

'Brittany, because she's 21 years old, is at the right age to be competitive.'

For the rest of the Yukon skiers, some as young as 14 years old, Masson is looking for personal bests. David Greer, Ray Sabo, Colin Abbott, John Parry and Sam Lindsey will race in men's competition, with Logan Potter and Nansen Murray serving as alternates.

Brittany, Knight, Nishikawa, Janelle Greer and Heidi Brook will compete in the women's events, with Sarah Murray and Brittany Smith named alternates.

Masson expects quite a few of the male and female athletes will hit the top 15 in at least one of their races, while in the relays, he wants to see a top-five finish in both men's and women's. At the 2003 Canada Games, the Yukon men were fourth in the relay.

Because they will be at home, Masson is very optimistic about their chances.

'They know the trails, they know the setup,' he says. 'And having the crowd cheer on the team will be fantastic. It will be an opportunity they might never get again.'

David Greer, the number-one ranked male skier for the Yukon, knows the competition will be tough but agrees it's definitely an advantage to be training almost daily on the same trails the athletes will use for the Games.

'Knowing the technical downhills can make some difference, taking the right corners. Everyone else is going to be here for just two days before the races, so they won't have much time to train.'

While some might shrink under the pressure of hometown fanfare on the sideline, David, who also competed at the 2005 Canada Summer Games in Regina as a cyclist, says he relishes the opportunity.

'Personally, I usually do a little better when there's more pressure. For me, it will be a nice change to have my family and friends around. It'll be fun.'

Knight points out the Yukon skiers hardly ever get a chance to show their family and friends what they can do, with exception of last March's test event, the western Canadian championships.

'Hearing everyone on the course cheering for you is amazing,' she says. 'When you hear your name every hill, that's so amazing.'

For most of the local athletes, she says, just the experience of racing against the fastest skiers under the age of 23 will be good enough. It's nice to be able to compare yourself against the best.

The athletes that win medals at the Canada Games are usually already on the junior national team, and not far away from making the senior team as well. Masson's wife, Lucy Steele-Masson, a former Olympian and Yukon sports legend, is proof of that.

Lucy won gold at the Canada Games in 1991 and that same year represented Canada at the senior world championships.

This year, names like Brittany Webster and Alex Harvey could become quite familiar. While both are junior skiers, they have been making senior headlines throughout the season.

Harvey could be in the running for a gold medal if he races as well as he has been up to this point in the season, says Alain. Webster, who was in Whitehorse for the Westerns last March, is so good she might not be able to come to the Games anymore, after winning both races at the senior world trials this past weekend.

'She only started to ski three years ago,' says Alain, adding he hopes she can make it to the Games anyway. 'She's phenomenal.'

There are also a few young seniors who were on the junior national team in previous years who may make a name for themselves in Whitehorse next month, adds the head coach. Although you never know what can happen during any race.

'The Canada Games are different than other events because there's so much more hype from the media. Typically, in multi-sport events such as the Canada Games or the Olympics, there's lots of pressure on people entering as favorites.'

Alain is hoping that may also work in the Yukon Ski Team's favor.

'Because we're not favourites in any events, there's a lot less pressure on us.'

With the helpful advice from Yukon veterans Knight, Nishikawa and Brittany Greer, who knows what the local athletes can pull off.

'Emily and I, and possibly Brit, we know what to expect,' says Knight. 'We're a lot more experienced than we were four years ago.'

Does she have any more parting advice for her fellow Canada Games athletes?

'At the last Games, I found out you can't take food out of the cafeteria, which can be very difficult,' she says. 'The one thing I learned, is to have lots more food with me in my room.

'Make sure to bring food!'