With the rise in popularity of soccer in the Yukon over the past few years, it seems only natural that there be more opportunities for local youth playing the game to enhance their skills.

Hundreds of the territory's young residents play indoor soccer throughout the winter, and more than 1,000 hit the fields outside in the summer, but in the past, those who latched on to the game were usually forced to go Outside for soccer camps or find time for occasional weekend events.

Thanks to the passion of local residents, that's starting to change. Last summer, Brendan Preston, who plays soccer at Mount Allison University and in men's league while home, joined up with Sean Macdonald, who will be representing the territory at Canada Summer Games in August, to run a youth camp in Whitehorse. Designed for those aged 8-12, the Palama Soccer Camp featured a week of half day-skills training for different age groups.

Preston and Macdonald will be continuing the camp this summer, and now, another option has emerged for the youth this year, with a somewhat different focus.

Summer Soccer Explosion is a series of 10 one week, soccer-focused full day camps, for a variety of ages. Kids ages seven to 14 will enjoy a week of games, crafts, swimming, T-shirt design and soccer-themed activities.

The idea was brought up by local coach and player Derric Lewis, who has been involved in the game for almost 26 years. Lewis said he'd noticed that in other parts of Canada, summer soccer day camps were a big hit with the younger kids, and he wanted to give Yukoners the same opportunity to learn skills and have fun at the same time.

'We knew we'd have a tonne of college students coming back this summer and that's what we wanted, to have local residents teaching the kids the skills they've learned,' explained Lewis.

'He basically approached us and stole us from our jobs,' joked Stephen Doyle, one of the three college students Lewis recruited to coach the day camps.

Women's players Jessica Harrison and Ashlee Smith will also be running the camps. All three have been playing soccer for more than 10 years and have represented the Yukon at both the national and international level.

Harrison and Smith participated in the 2001 USA Cup in Minnesota while Doyle competed for Dalhousie University, playing in the university national championships. They hope to pass on their passion for soccer to as many youngsters as possible.

'I've played my whole life and spent four years working for the City of Whitehorse day camp, so running day camps is something I'm familiar with,' said Doyle. 'I enjoy working with children.'

Harrison also has a lot of experience working with young kids and she said being able to incorporate that with something she loves doing will be fun for her, and hopefully the participants as well.

'I've coached camps before with the Canada Summer Games team and I think I'll bring a lot of patience, too,' added Smith.

All three coaches admitted it will be interesting working with a variety of age groups, since the approaches will be very different. With the youngest kids, they need to 'keep it simple,' said Smith, since it's so easy for them to get distracted.

'We'll be doing swimming too, so the kids will get a bit of variety too,' said Harrison. 'We just want to get them outside and keep them active.'

With the 12-14 year old athletes, the activities will really depend on what their skill level coming into the camp is. Lewis pointed out that even at 14, 'there's still so much to learn.

'There are so many different parts of the game you can challenge any individual at.'

One of the things that will make Summer Soccer Explosion so different from past camps is they will be working with players individually, as well as within a group, giving everyone a chance to hone their own skills. Lewis said it's really a combination of Whitehorse Minor Soccer Association camps, which are mainly recreational, and Yukon Soccer Association camps, which he called 'one-week, intensive, baptism by fire soccer.'

Summer Soccer Explosion runs Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Vanier Catholic Secondary School.

The first camp starts June 20, for 10-12-year-olds, with the rest of the camps running successively until August 26.

Those interested can register at Sport Yukon and for more information, can contact Derric Lewis at 393-4799, or email sneill@yukon.net.

Lewis said they've already had interest expressed from people in the N.W.T., who may bring a group down for one of the weeks. He also hopes to get kids from all the Yukon communities involved.

Those interested in the Palama Soccer Camp, which runs June 27 to Aug. 26, can also register at Sport Yukon, or call 668-7923.