Bermuda’s senior men’s and women’s hockey teams are in action in Mexico this weekend in the Central American and Caribbean Games qualifiers.

The island’s representatives possess the lowest world rankings in the competition, with the men ranked 93 ahead of their opening group match against the host nation today. The women, 72nd in the world, begin their campaign against Guatemala on Sunday.

National coach Kovin Moodley is under no illusions as to the size of the task the teams face but is hopeful they will acquit themselves well.

“We rank quite low down but that’s purely because we don’t play many games at international level,” Moodley said.

“The only time in the last 30 years that a men’s team from Bermuda has competed at an international tournament was on island in 2022, so we are probably seen as one of the lower-end teams. But that provides a good platform for us and a massive opportunity to get more exposed.

“Without playing international tournaments you don’t have the opportunity to grow at all and especially with Bermuda geographically isolated from the rest of the region, the access to hockey and stronger games is limited because we’re stretched so far from other nations.

“Our sport is unique because there is always the potential for a win to happen and an underdog that might not necessarily be the best on paper can still surprise.”

When your players are dedicated amateurs it can be difficult to raise a squad for international tournaments and this time of year has brought added complications for Moodley.

“The challenge for Bermuda is that we don’t have professional athletes so to have everyone available for these tournaments is difficult,” Moodley said.

“This time of year is a busy time for a lot of corporates and our players are in that line of work. It’s also exam time for a lot of our students so it can be really hard to have a full complement of players.

“That might affect some of the results that we get but our preparation on the ladies side has been so healthy, so positive and there is a really strong culture so players can come in and out and we can maintain a standard brought by their commitment over the last three years.”

Bermuda flew to Mexico less than 48 hours before the men play their opening game and Moodley is preparing his team so that they can peak for the final day of the competition.

“With the way the tournament is structured, you play your pool games and then you have a play-off day,” Moodley said.

“Our goal is to make sure that we are competing on that day and if you win a play-off game against a team that might be higher-ranked, it will put us in contention to qualify for the CAC Games.

“Before we left we had a seminar with a sports doctor on the island who has a tremendous amount of experience and was able to give us some good advice on how to prepare given the limited amount of resources we have available.

“In an ideal situation we would have had more time to travel ahead and acclimatise but we have to try to do what we can in the time frame available. Our goal is to peak for the play-off game with the first few games us getting used to playing together as a unit and used to the environment.”

The men’s and women’s hockey programmes are in different stages of development with Moodley attempting to kick-start the men’s game.

“Men’s hockey is in its early phases and developing again, so we have two programmes at very different points in their development an d in their process,” Moodley said.

“Getting here came down to a level of ambition from the players in order to try to work towards something. It’s required a lot of thought and vision to try to create something that is sustainable.

“We have a 15-year-old who will be coming as a part of the team. Our junior structures link into the programme which makes it easier for players to feel like they have access to major tournaments and the chance to represent their country. It’s in a healthy space but that doesn’t come without a significant amount of sacrifice and hard work. The players involved have worked hard but this tournament is just a marker in a bigger process.”

As with many teams that represent Bermuda at international level, the players have to provide at least some of the funding themselves.

“We have a self-funded approach and the amount that every player would have to put forth is already predetermined,” Moodley said.

“But we do have a fundraising strategy and that’s a combination of corporate funding and events we run through the year. At the moment we’ve been very successful in our approach to fundraising and there are a lot of companies supporting us, which has made it possible for our players not to have to incur huge costs to be able to go away.

“We also have the support of the Department of Sport and Recreation and they have a policy whereby eight weeks of preparation is subsidised by them, so it seems like the Government is really looking after athletes preparing for international tournaments.”