Yellowknife's 15U men's nationals basketball team clinched gold at the Swoosh tournament in Edmonton last week. Next, they'll be on their way to the 2024 national championships from Aug. 5-10 in Ontario.

Team manager Mike Mathison said the Edmonton tournament was a very good outing and he's confident the team will be more organized by the time they travel south.

Rami Ayache, executive director with Basketball NWT, explained that the 15U and 17U men's teams are going to York University while the 17U women are on their way to Newfoundland at the same time, playing at Memorial University.

"They'll be playing against the best in the country" said Ayache. 

Success in the national tournament comes down to trying to win against the smaller jurisdictions, Ayache said, using Prince Edward Island as an example, which is only competing in female division.

Enabling NWT athletes to get some exposure to recruits is another priority. Ayache said it's hoped that some NWT athletes will make it to post-secondary athletics down south and used some examples of previous athletes he worked with being scouted by universities and colleges.

"For the 15U, it'll be the first time for a lot of them" when it comes to playing outside of the NWT, Ayache added. "It's a player development opportunity too."

Ayache described the tournament in Edmonton for 15U as a warm up for what's about to come. For now, all three teams are gearing up for the step up in competition in August.

"Some teams are training at 6 a.m. daily," said Ayache.