Bermuda coach Gary Adams has expressed his pride in his team’s qualification for the final round of Concacaf Women’s Under-17 World Cup Qualifiers.

On Monday, the Lady Gombey Warriors were confirmed as the best second-placed team at the end of the first round of qualifiers. Led by Zelaye Showers, they finished tied on seven points with Panama when the group B action concluded at Flora Duffy Stadium last Wednesday, with the Central Americans going through as winners on goal difference.

Bermuda then endured days of waiting for the other group fixtures to wind up to know they had made it.

“It’s an amazing feeling to have that accomplishment of repeating the success we did last year and probably in a better fashion this year,” Adams told The Royal Gazette.

“I think all the hard work paid off as you can tell with our results and I’m really looking forward to the next challenge.

“It’s a big step up, but there’s a lot of lessons learnt, so it’s going to be a great opportunity to embrace a new challenge.

“I've been in touch with a few of the players and everybody is excited that we did it. Obviously, being on home soil, it was a great week, putting on a performance for everybody, grabbing goals, playing attacking football and getting a hard-fought draw that we potentially could have won against Panama.”

As they wait for the draw, dates and venues for the next round, Adams is spending time reviewing videos of potential opponents.

“The nice thing about this time is we have some more games of footage that we can go back and review,” the coach said.

“I gave them the week off to catch themselves as it was very physically, mentally and emotionally demanding.

“Some girls have gone back to school, but we would look to sharpen up everything that we’ve done. We don’t want to change too much and throw them off where they’ve been in terms of the rhythm that they had.

“We will look just to be more organised, stay sharper defensively and offensively. Maybe throw a little surprise in there, but we need to be a little bit realistic.

“The teams we’re going to be playing against will be of a higher calibre than we faced in the first round, so we’re definitely going to need to make sure that we are defensively disciplined.”

Despite the achievement, Adams hinted at the possibility of changes to the squad for the next phase of qualification.

“We’ll start training next week,” he said.

“We’ll bring in some players who didn’t make it and that’s always a tough decision to say who makes it and who doesn’t.

“Some people just don’t make it for different reasons, so we will go back to our pool of players to bring people in and train for the next five weeks.

“Who knows, just because somebody was on this team doesn’t mean they’re going to be in the team for the next tour.

“It’s an opportunity for some girls who didn’t make it to work a little harder and maybe earn their position. Those who made it have to work hard to make sure that they don’t lose their positions.”

The coach has extended his appreciation to local fans for coming in their numbers to give the players the extra urge.

“From the bottom of my heart, I can just say thank you,” Adams added.

“The girls genuinely appreciated looking up and seeing close to 1,200 people in the stands supporting our local athletes.

“I’m sure it kept them going in that game against Panama, which was a tough encounter.

“You could see from the joy on their faces and the celebrations when the girls scored that they loved seeing their friends, family and community in the crowd.

“Honestly, only a win against Panama could have made that better. So overall, I just want to say thank you to all who came out, it was the perfect support that we needed.”

Senior women’s national coach Naquita Robinson has also congratulated the future stars for remaining in with a chance to qualify for the Fifa Under-17 Women's World Cup, which will be hosted by Morocco in October and November.

“Congratulations to our under-17 girls on advancing to the final round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers,” Robinson said.

“Continue to stay committed, resilient and believe in each other. You have earned this moment through your hard work and discipline.

“As the senior women’s head coach, I am incredibly proud of the standard you have set and I wish you all the best in the next round.”

Sports minister Owen Darrell, who was at Flora Duffy Stadium to watch all three of Bermuda’s group matches, also applauded the girls for their accomplishment.

“Sport matters and this is a proud moment for Bermuda,” Darrell said.

“I had the privilege of attending all three home games and experienced the discipline and heart these young athletes displayed on the pitch.

“They represented our island with distinction and their success is a testament to their hard work and dedication.

“The Government remains committed to supporting the development of our athletes as they continue to compete on the international stage.”