Yukon Selects prepare for Alaskan soccer tournament

The Yukon Selects men's soccer team will go head-to-head against Alaska's finest this weekend in a three-day competition, which is being held in Anchorage.

The Yukon Selects men’s soccer team will go head-to-head against Alaska’s finest this weekend in a three-day competition, which is being held in Anchorage.
The tournament is the Alaska State Cup and this year’s Yukon squad are going with the goal of winning the championship for the first time since 1999.
“I think one of the strengths we have this year is numbers,“ said team organizer and player Jake Hanson.

“I would kind of characterize the team as being hard working.  We have a really strong work ethic and we have a lot of guys who are now playing college and university level soccer.“
The core of the Yukon Selects have been together for nine years. The first tournament they took part in was the Alaska State Cup in 1999. Since then, the team has competed in several other prestigious competitions including the nationals and competitions in B.C.
The team’s original reason for competing in Alaska was because no other elite soccer club outside of the territory was willing to make the trip up to Whitehorse.

After winning in Alaska, the group didn’t compete at the event again until 2006 where they placed second after losing 2-1 in the final.
As a result of a lack of bodies and some bad luck, the group finished with an 0-3 record in 2007. This year’s team has added depth with both the quality and overall number of players.
Hanson said he is hoping to have 18 participants on the Yukon squad for the tournament.
The Yukon’s involvement in the state cup has been a tremendous benefit to the tournament in the last few years. The selects have provided added depth to the very competitive A Division, which this weekend, will include six teams. The past two years, the A division has only had four teams and used a round robin format.
This year, each team will play three games and the top four teams will advance to Sunday’s semi-finals. 
The Yukon Selects have been preparing for the state cup for the last month and held a practice Tuesday at Ecole Emilie Tremblay Elementary School. At the practice the group worked on game tactics such as striking and ball control.
With the exception of one player, who is travelling from Mayo, all of the players on the Yukon Selects are from Whitehorse and play in the men’s league.
Ammon Hoefs, 23, has been playing with the Yukon Selects since he was 16. In 2007, an injury prevented Hoefs from taking part in the Alaska State Cup. He said he is confident about being able to win the tournament this year.
“We have a lot of good players who haven’t played with us before and who are eager to play and the guys who are returning again,“ Hoefs said. “They are all quality players and provided that we are all injury-free I think we have a really good chance of winning it this year. I am looking forward to it.“
Hoefs, who plays on the University of Alberta soccer team, said this year’s Yukon Selects squad has a lot of strengths.
“We have a lot of experienced players who have gotten out of the territory and played some really competitive soccer down south,“ he said. “So we have a lot of individual skills and we also read the ball pretty well.“