Three young table tennis players will look to serve up a treat when they become the first junior team to represent Bermuda at an overseas tournament in almost 30 years.

Michael Spence-Durrant, 10, Jeremiah Samuels, 13, and Jehziyh Rawlins, 12, are to compete at next weekend’s Westchester Table Tennis Clubs Monthly Tournament — one of the biggest competitions on the East Coast of the United States.

Jaymo Durham, the Bermuda Table Tennis Association vice-president, said it was important the trio, who are considered the top youngsters in its programme, experienced competition “outside of the goldfish bowl” of Bermuda.

“This tournament will be a wonderful experience for these players,” said Durham, who will travel with the team to New York.

“It will show them how hard they need to push themselves to get to the next level and play in a more competitive environment.

“We’re looking to have these players involved in at least three overseas tournaments each year to increase their competitiveness.

“The problem is they are only exposed to local players and that’s not sufficient to push them to where they need to be.”

Durham, who will be supported by coaches Khalid Davis and Myron Piper, expects the competition to be a real eye-opener for the island’s youngsters.

“The tournament normally attracts more than 150 players from all around the country, including some of the United States’ best players,” said Durham, who is a certified International Table Tennis Federation coach.

“Our players haven’t competed in a US tournament before so they don’t have a set rating and they will be competing to obtain rating points.”

Durham believed the previous junior team to wear Bermuda’s colours at an overseas competition was in the late Eighties.

That team would have included players such as Dwayne Hill, the present BTTA president, Hasan Durham, the former Bermuda cricketer, and Corey Berkeley, who developed under the tutelage of Harold Minors, the former BTTA treasurer and director of its former youth centre on Angle Street.

“We haven’t had a junior team playing overseas since table tennis was part of the Carifta Games,” Durham said.

“There are only three other countries in our International Table Tennis Federation region, Canada and the US, which is one of the smallest regions.

“In the past few years we’ve competed in a regional tournament at the senior level in 2013 [the North American Cup] and 2015 [the North American Championships], but this is the first time we’re developing youngsters to be the future senior Bermuda team.”

Durham established SMASH! Table Tennis Recreation Centre — a 3,800-square-foot facility on the Lobby Floor of the Commerce Building at Reid Street — along with Lynwood Richardson, the facility manager, two years ago.

The venue has become the training ground for grass-roots table tennis talent on the island, with about half a dozen children training regularly as part of the BTTA programme.

“The sport has grown in popularity over the past few years,” Durham said.

“We have definitely seen a growth in interest from the school kids.

“Our members are from an array of different schools, both public and private.

“It can be difficult because a lot of our players are multi-sport athletes so we’re competing with football and tennis, and the other sports.

“Table tennis has been considered a recreational sport for a number of years, both historically and locally, and hasn’t had the same recognition as the other sports.

“It can be challenging to get the buy-in from all of the parents.”

Beyond table tennis, the facility acts as a community centre and offers a wide variety of activities, including video games and board games for children.

For more details contact 296-4141, e-mail getsmashed316@gmail.com, or visit the SMASH! Table Tennis Facebook page.