It's always worth the drive to Yellowknife to play sports, especially when you come back with some hardware.

That's what the Hay River Storm did in the capital earlier this month as the club sent three teams - two U15 squads and a U19 boys outfit - to play in the Potential Volleyball Club's Avery Cooper Year End Tournament. From that, one of the U15 teams scored itself a gold medal, while the other ended up third.

Heather Coakwell, one of the Storm's coaches, said the U15 division was co-ed and for some of them, it was their first time actually playing.

"It was the first time four of our boys got a chance to play," she said.

Both of the teams managed to get to the semifinals, but one of them fell at that hurdle and had to settle for third place. The other Storm squad defeated a Potential Volleyball Club team to take gold.

When it comes to the U9 boys, they played in the men's division and very nearly got themselves into a championship contest, said Coakwell.

"They came up against the first place team in the semifinals (Frosted Tips of Yellowknife)," she said. "They gave them a good run, but came up short."

With Yellowknife out of the way, the focus now turns to the Alberta Volleyball Championships as they'll be hitting the road to play in Edmonton from May 2 to 4. The U18 girls are also headed to Edmonton in May as they'll be part of the Volleyball Canada Nationals that get underway on May 25.

Coakwell said the Storm will be hosting a tournament of its own on the weekend before track and field on My 30 to June 1 with U13, U15 and an open division scheduled to take place.