The Yukon Wolverines Hockey Program is hoping an early start leads to some late season success in 2009-10.

This past weekend, the organization took its first step towards preparing for next year's campaign by hosting a couple of First Nations Atom Hockey I.D. camps.

The purpose of the camps was not only to select a team, but also to begin the fund-raising process that's needed to cover the costs involved with competing at Outside tournaments.

Currently, the Wolverines plan on attending two Outside hockey tournaments, the first being held in Brandon, Manitoba in January.

"Primarily, our purpose is we need to get fund-raising done," said Corinne McKay, the manager of the Wolverines. "When we are looking at $20,000 a tournament we need to get the kids identified, so we can get the parents identified. Then we can just start working on our fund-raising and getting some money up in the bank by the time we start in September."

The Wolverines had a stellar first season in 2008-09, winning its division at a Native American hockey tournament, hosted in Anchorage back in February.

The team followed up its trip to Anchorage by competing amongst a tough field in Saskatoon earlier in April. Despite going 0-4 in Saskatoon, McKay said the group learned a lot and got better as the tournament went on.

"That was a huge eye-opener for us, because the level of competition was just so high," she said. "I think that they were initially quite frustrated because we did so well in Anchorage, so they thought that they would have a similar opportunity down in Saskatoon.

"The kids down there were so much more bigger, but they (the Wolverines) hung in there."

Entering into its second year, McKay said the Wolverines program decided to select 12 players, not including goaltenders. She added this was a more manageable number and give them the opportunity to pick up a couple of players when traveling to an tournament.

In 2008-09, the Wolverines had a weekly ice time that they used for to practice or play exhibition games against the Atom Mustangs or atom house league players.

McKay said members on the Wolverines also play in the Whitehorse Minor Hockey League, giving them additional game experience.

The I.D. camps, opened to players born in 1999, were held at the Canada Games Centre on Saturday and Sunday. Wolverine prospects worked on the fundamentals, including skating skills, passing and player coverage.

Defenceman Matthew Butler, 10, was one of the players at the First Nations Atom I.D. camp on Sunday.

Butler said he was pleased with how the camp went, saying he improved his stick handling and one-on-one play.

"It's really great," he said about the camp. "I just thought it would be fun to get some extra practice and to get better."

Jonas Leas, nine was a member of this past season's Wolverine squad. Leas said his highlight was playing hockey in Saskatoon.

"We don't get to go down south and see how good other players are (very often)," he said.

Leas said the camps went well on the weekend and that he tried to work on his skating.

Cruz Goodman, another player on the 2008-09 Wolverines, also had a good camp.

For Goodman, the travel was the best part about being a Wolverine. Goodman said, based on the kids that attended the weekend camps, he is confident about how the team will do in 2009-10.

Kaine Comin, nine, was pleased with how the camp went for him and is looking forward to traveling to Outside competitions this coming season.