NNSL (Mar 25/98) - One could say Magadan's minor soccer team left Yellowknife on the right foot over the weekend.

Besides winning gold in their category, the entire team of nearly a dozen players were handed free indoor soccer shoes courtesy of the Aurora Minor Soccer League and Overlander Sports.

The athletes made the jaunt over to Overlander on Saturday evening to pick up their shoes and do a little shopping.

After watching the soccer team play in canvas shoes, someone thought it appropriate to buy the team what pass for real soccer shoes in these parts.

"It was my daughter, Amanda's idea," said Peter Bengts, president of the Aurora Minor Soccer League.

Amanda and her dad watched the Russians play at St. Pat's school during the Arctic Winter Games.

Though the team played quite well, the two thought the players' shoes might be somewhat uncomfortable for kicking and running.

They ran the shoe exchange idea through league's executives, who approved it. They also contacted Bill Stirling at Overlander, who promised a good deal on the shoes.

The exchange was delayed a couple of days because Overlander didn't have enough of the shoes in stock. Stirling had to place a special order to get them here before the athletes left town. The shoes arrived on Saturday.

Once that was done, Bengts talked with the Magadan translators and the team agreed to accept the shoes.

"This is a candy store for the kids," said Bengts, as the youngsters picked through the boxes of shoes looking for their correct size.

"The kids are glad," said Valentin Jarkov, Magadan's indoor soccer coach through a translator. "I kind of feel embarrassed. I'm sweating now."

Jarkov did not anticipate their acceptance of the soccer shoes would gather so much attention. But the youngsters didn't seem to mind as they went wild in the store.

Konstantin Proutsakov, a defensive player on the Magadan soccer team, was only to happy to ham it up for the camera with his soccer shoes in his hands and gold medal clinched in his teeth.

Bill Stirling, owner of Overlander, was pleased to be a part of the shoe exchange.

"This is great," he said, walking away to tend to the youngsters.

Stirling did not know how many pairs of shoes the players needed. He said he will probably have to wait until later on to do a store inventory.