Athletes from across the North heading to St John's, N.L., for Canada Summer Games

Athletes from the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut are heading to St John's on Friday to compete in the Canada Summer Games

Team Yukon and Team Nunavut will be sending their largest contingents of athletes ever to this year's games, with 211 athletes representing the Yukon and about 70 athletes representing Nunavut. Another 130 athletes will be representing N.W.T.

The summer games, which run until Aug. 25, include over 4,000 athletes, coaches and managers from every province and territory.

This year's games will be particularly memorable for Team Nunavut's men's and women's basketball teams, who are making history as the first basketball teams to represent the territory at the Canada Games.

"It's definitely exciting, but I think everyone's a little bit on their nerves," said Victor Pothier who plays centre for the men's team.

Pothier says the milestone is a reflection of the growth in the sport in the territory.

"It's definitely amazing to see how much we've grown in sports and in everything else," he said. "I'm super happy to be part of the first team that ever went to the Canada Summer Games for basketball."

Making it to the games hasn't been without its challenges for the basketball teams. Some of the athletes train without coaches in their home communities, and the teams only had 10 days to train together before the games.

Despite that, the athletes say they are eager for what's to come in St John's.

"We are going to try our hardest," said Lia Dimitruk, a guard on the women's team. "We'll have a lot of fun and I'm very excited for us to all play together."

In addition to basketball, Nunavut athletes will also be competing in beach volleyball, volleyball and wrestling, said chef de mission Jeff Seeteenak. He