Three teams which participated in the Clyde Best Invitational Youth Tournament have benefited from their inspiring performances during the event recently held at the Naitonal Sports Centre.

In spite of relatively short notice, members of the three Bermuda national teams were thrilled to hear news announced yesterday that they have been accepted to participate in the popular Dr. Pepper XXVIII Dallas Cup to be held at Pizza Hut Park in Texas from April 1-8.

The team will depart Bermuda on Friday, March 30 and return on Monday, April 9.

In a news release the BFA said: “Because our teams are national team, they will compete in one age group level up. Hence, they will compete in the Under-14, Under-15 and Under-16 age categories respectively.”

The Under-14s will be coached by Dennis Brown, Troy Lewis and Winston Trott. The team manager is Carmen Harvey. Mark Wade and Ray Jones are in charge of the Under-15s with team manager the Tanya Smith. The Under-16s team has Troy Harvey and Maurice Lowe as coaches and their team manager is Roger Lee.

The heads of delegation, representing the BFA during the tournament, are Mark Trott and Lloyd Smith.

The names of the successful players making the trip will be announced on March 22 with the tour scheduled expected to be revealed shortly afterwards.

“Planning for participation in this tournament spans some two-plus years which culminated with the decision to enter this year on the basis of the financial support from the Bermuda Government as it relates to the launch of the BFA’s Strategic Plan initiative,” said a BFA statement.

“It has been stated many years and on a variety of topics relating to our youth that we can compete at this age in any area of our development. It has also been stated that we must find opportunities for our youth to show their talents.

“Whilst we believe this to be true we also accept that we must create a starting point and work systematically to achieve the end result. This tournament provides another step toward this objective.”

It added that the staff coaches along with the players “have been steadfast and committed to representing Bermuda and we will endeavour to work hard to provide these and other such opportunities going forward. In as much, we will continue to emphasise that it is about more than just kicking the football but the cultural and educational experiences associated with travelling to such major events. We aim to broaden our player’s horizons so that they may realise the opportunities available to them beyond Bermuda’s shores.”