For some teenage members of the Kugluktuk Grizzles soccer club, going to Edmonton to watch some world-class soccer will be a reward for their dedication, both to the sport and to their education.

For the players from the western Nunavut hamlet, who are in the Alberta capital July 5-16, the trip to watch some matches in the FIFA U-20 World Cup will also give them a chance to hone their skills in a soccer camp — on a real soccer field, not in their gymnasium, where they practice in the harsh Arctic winters, or out on the local baseball field, the only field in town, come summer.

But most of all, for the 11 Kugluktuk kids going, it's all about having fun watching "the beautiful game" unfold on an international level.

"I'm going to be excited," said player Jeremy Hala, who is making his first-ever voyage to southern Canada. When asked what he plans to do, he replied with a laugh, "I don't know. Watch. Yell."

The Kugluktuk Grizzlies soccer club is a community program that uses sports to encourage youth to stay in school — a major challenge in Nunavut, where recent government statistics show that only a quarter of high school students graduate. The club rule is simple: stay in school, stay on the team.

That requirement provides children and teens with other valuable side-effects, as staying on the team helps them cope with common social problems in northern communities, from poverty and violence to depression and substance abuse.

"It keeps me on a regular base of practices," player Ian Taptuna said.

The trip to Edmonton is the second time the club has offered youth an added incentive to show up to school and practice. About $120,000 was raised to send 32 teenagers from clubs in Kugluktuk, Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak.

Kugluktuk Grizzlies coach Geoff Clarke, who came up with the idea of regional trips, said such adventures not only offer youth a trip of a lifetime, but it can also extend Nunavut's extremely short soccer seasons by bringing teams together.

"If you want to play against another community, you have to spend weeks preparing, weeks fundraising, just to get a chance to go somewhere for a weekend," Clarke said. "Your season's done before you even try out your skills."

In a community with its fair shares of joys and problems, there's hope that the temporary excitement created by a soccer adventure — like the one playing out right now in Edmonton — might open young people's eyes to what their hard work can achieve.