When the Yellowknife Bay Soccer Club announced it would be playing a regular slate of games in Edmonton at the beginning of their season, it was going to be a task to try and get it done.

But they did it and the plan is to do it all over again next season.

The Sundogs, as they're better known, wrapped up their inaugural partnership campaign with the Edmonton Minor Soccer Association (EMSA) late last month. Three teams - U11 boys, U15 girls and U17 girls - took to the indoor fields of the Alberta capital to play three weekends worth of games over three months.

Joe Acorn, who runs the Sundogs, said it was a great experience from top to bottom.

"We got a chance to see other teams we wouldn't normally have seen and see what their tactics are," he said. "It's great for the development of the kids and I can honestly say it's the best thing we've ever done."

Here's how it worked: the teams flew to Edmonton on select weekends to play a series of games against opposition in their age category. They made three trips to ensure they got all of the games in so they keep up in the standings.

Acorn coached the U11 boys which played 13 total games in Tier 3 in that age category, winning 12 of them.

He said it was a decision that was made simply because of manpower.

"We had a limited number of subs for each game, but we did play some exhibition games against some older kids," he said. "We probably could've done alright in Tier 2, but you just don't know and this was the first year we had to place the kids into a tier. We'll probably do Tier 2 next year."

Luciano Marrai, coach of the U15 girls squad, said he could see plenty of progress from start to finish with his team.

"We just don't get a lot of competitive games within Yellowknife, so getting regular competition was beneficial," he said.

The first time on the field for the girls was a bit intimidating simply because they weren't used to that environment, he added, but they managed to get their feet under them quickly.

"Our challenge was we could've played in U14, but we have players who are 14, 13 and 12 and we didn't want them feeling out of their depth," he said. "We did stress to them that it wasn't too far out of their depth and they all played better as the games went on."

Taking the Sundogs to play in Edmonton has been an idea of Acorn's since 2019 and he said this was the year he was able to make it work.

"Yellowknife has the mentality of being the small fish in a big pond when it comes to playing down south," he said. "We're used to winning at home, but you gain a more broad perspective when you're playing on the road. You go to places like Edmonton and you find out there are dozens or even hundreds of kids who are just as good as you are, sometimes better."

EMSA has had teams from cities such as Red Deer and Grande Prairie playing in its league programming in past years, so this would be nothing new. But this would be the first time a team from outside the province would be coming in.

To make that happen, Acorn said NWT Soccer had to sign off on what's called a cross-jurisdictional agreement with Alberta Soccer to make it happen, in addition to the travel permits that were required for any member outfit within NWT Soccer travelling to play.

"We were certainly the furthest team to ever come and play and we were bit of a novelty," said Acorn. "We got lots of nice comments from other parents about our commitment to play being from so far away."

The hope for Acorn is that this becomes an annual deal with more teams making the trip starting next season.

He described this as an experimental season for both the Sundogs and EMSA.

"We had to convince EMSA it would be a good idea and that we wouldn't simply go down and get blown out every game because that's no good for anyone," he said. "This was a prove-it season and I think we proved ourselves just fine."

Marrai agreed, saying he hopes this will be a long-term affair.

"Finances are always a barrier when you're making those decisions, but I think it would be great to have as many kids as possible get a chance to do this," he said. "It's great for those kids who are thinking about playing soccer post-secondary because they'll get more exposure to higher-level competition. I think we proved we belonged there and I'm sure EMSA was happy to have us there."