THEY might not have played an international match for more than five years but Bermuda's women's football team stand a high chance of bringing back medals from the Island Games.

A squad of 20 girls will set off next month knowing they have to come third out of just six teams for a podium place, although coach Vance Brown believes his team have a good crack at top spot.

And with Brown at the helm, the girls won't be lacking tactical guidance. He won seven league titles, nine FA Cups and six Konika Cups with Rude Girls.

Last season he won the League and the FA Cup with Lady Cougars as the Rude Girls are now called.

Brown, who has been at the helm of the national women's team for well over a decade, also has a UEFA B licence and has studied at the English FA's National Coaching School.

Clearly ambitious, he expects the best from his girls and has been training them four nights a week with games on Saturdays.

Fitness will clearly be important, as well as staying injury-free as the team has five matches in seven days.

"It's coming along really well," he said. "I can see the players responding to what the coaching staff is putting in."

But he admits the trip is a venture into the great unknown for his girls.

"I don't know what level is expected other than they are all European teams. We just hope to do the best we can."

He expects a physical game with the Scandanavian teams in particular having a lot of height and strength. In order to toughen up his players he has pitted them against teenage boys' teams.

"We are pretty much holding our own and have won some matches," he said.

He has a lot of skilful quick players good on the break but is still trying to instil some discipline.

"We are all right when we have the ball but now we are working a lot harder and trying different things when we don't have the ball."

Brown has been watching the UEFA women's Euro 2005 championship being shown on television in recent days and has taken heart from what he has seen.

"We are not far from that standard by the looks of it. I think we could compete with some of those teams," he said.

And Brown knows he had a massive advantage in being able to pick 12 players currently on soccer scholarships in the US ? the world hotbed for women's soccer.

However two of those dozen are not in the squad giving Brown a good mix of home girls and student players.

Among his assets are Raneika Bean, who was the leading scorer for four years at Howard University, while Catherine Clarke and Stacy Babb won the Division Two title last year.

"They bring back a higher level."

He admits the lack of international opposition is a hindrance to his ability to improve his squad.

But he added: "Most summers two or three college teams come down for their pre-season games. So while we haven't travelled, we are getting overseas competition that has been very helpful to us."

Sometimes Bermuda has triumphed, while in May his team lost twice and drew with New York Hotas. Either way it is a learning experience for a team desperate for matches.

In Shetland, Bermuda will be playing on decent facilities scattered all over the island that lies 200 miles off Scotland.

The team to beat will be the Faroes who have won the last two Island Games tournaments. Also in the mini-league are Shetland, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Alane.

And just as their opponents in Shetland will be an unknown quantity it means their opponents know nothing about the Bermuda game.

"I have to say we stand just as much a chance as anyone else."