Bermuda’s senior women’s hockey team are getting some high-class competition on island this week.

A touring side from Alvernia University in Pennsylvania has travelled to the island and their presence will assist the Bermuda squad in their preparation for the Central American and Caribbean Games in July.

Head coach Kovin Moodley has already had the chance to run the rule over his own team and their opponents, with one game taking place on Monday night and the second scheduled for the National Sports Centre on Wednesday night at 6pm.

“We’re really fortunate to have Alvernia, a Division III university, for our prep, our national team and our national programme,” Moodley said.

“The Monday game was a mixed group of players and the Wednesday game is going to be a little more focused on the national players that are on island and available.

“Alvernia’s level was good but I felt they needed a bit more time to settle after flying as you could see that they were a bit hesitant and maybe a bit nervous on the ball.

“It was the same for us and we had a couple of girls who were taking the field for the first time with us, so the game was a bit scrappy at the beginning. But after the first quarter, I think everyone settled and the game got into a bit of flow. We entered the second half in a good space, but unfortunately we conceded quite a few goals from penalty corners and we need to focus on that, clean up and be better.”

With the CAC Games just over three months away, these two matches offer local players the chance to force themselves into Moodley’s selection thoughts.

“The focus for us is to really give ourselves the opportunity to play against strong opposition,” Moodley said.

“It's difficult for us to have that consistent competition because we're far away from other teams having access to Bermuda. So the players that are on island, it’s a great opportunity for them to get some game time, especially at a higher intensity, because sometimes we're a bit sheltered within the local league.

“Whenever we have teams from outside come here, it does test us and it gives players an opportunity to showcase the programme and the development that they’ve had. A lot of people within the programme were given an opportunity, will be given more of an opportunity in the next game and that all forms part of our selection process.

“This phase is specifically for us to develop a bit more of a presence in the final third, our attacking space, our goal scoring and different ways that we can try to score goals. So we've got such a big focus on that.”

Given Bermuda’s location, Moodley believes this may be the only chance for the squad to face international opposition before they travel to Dominican Republic

“This is a good tour for us to try to encourage other teams to come down,” he said.

“We had a team that was supposed to come down, but unfortunately it is quite difficult to arrange schedules and to try to fit within the budgets as well, especially as we get closer to summer, when it becomes a bit more of a challenge.

“This could be the only touring team that we get, so the only opposition that comes from outside of Bermuda. But locally we have a federation based team, which is just whoever is not part of the selection process but are consistently trying to help us out and trying to provide opposition for the national team. They are a big part of our prep, especially in the final phase, just before we go to the tournament.”