highly successful eight-day tour.

The squad of 29 girls aged between 13 and 18 played 14 games against teams in the Vancouver area, winning six, drawing six and losing only two.

The girls were divided into under-15 and under-18 squads and the younger team went unbeaten against school and local league opposition.

Team manager Sarah Cook said it had been a first overseas tour for most of the girls and they had risen to the occasion.

And they had relished the chance to play on artificial turf, the surface on which most international hockey is played nowadays.

"They just seemed to lift their game -- on the proper surface they were really able to use the skills they have,'' said a delighted Cook.

"The idea was to expose the girls to artificial surfaces to prepare them for the Pan-Am Junior Games in Barbados next year.'' Bermuda will send an under-21 hockey team to that event next April and Cook said 19 "possibles'' had been identified for the squad from the party of 29 players.

In the corresponding event two years ago, Bermuda's young team finished seventh, above Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela.

Megan Spurling was the one survivor from that side who travelled to Vancouver and the 18-year-old starred, scoring a hat-trick in one game.

"Megan is a great player for us and a certainty for Barbados,'' said Cook.

"The tour was a great success and it was good for the girls to get away and bond as a team. Each player got to play at least four hours of competitive hockey and they trained hard for 15 hours over six mornings.

"We did not know what to expect from them, but we have been really impressed,'' added Cook.

Also travelling with the party were three coaches, Kath Davis, Steve Moreton and Dafydd Hermann-Smith.

Parents of the players paid for the tour, with the help of fundraising events staged by the girls themselves.

Bermuda has no artificial turf hockey pitch, but one is planned for the National Sports Centre.

Cook said the Bermuda Hockey Federation was still trying to get an official reply on when the pitch would be ready for use, though they are expecting a wait of up to two years.