Bermuda’s national hockey team continued their preparations for the Central American and Caribbean Games with a hard-fought defeat against Alvernia University.

In a close game, the touring US side came out on top 3-1 against a Bermuda team featuring players likely to be in coach Kovin Moodley’s final squad for the Games in Dominican Republic in July.

Moodley made copious notes on the sidelines as he assesses ability and tweaks formations, and he was excited to test himself as a coach.

“I probably learnt more out of this game than the one before,” Moodley said.

“I can assess how we can take concepts from training into a game because it's very difficult to recreate the emotions of a game. We can be great in a training session and then all of a sudden in the game there’s a gap, a breakdown.

“The joy I get as a coach is to try to unpack that and figure out how we can peak at the tournament. The notes that I’m making are sometimes just reflections on how far away we are or what I feel we need to reinforce.

“There are also little things that I can maybe feed the players to spark something. I want to send that light bulb off in their head where the connection happens and they can actually do it in the moment, but my brain never stops.”

As with many of Bermuda’s national coaches, Moodley is having to oversee a programme in which most of the players have other jobs and commitments away from the pitch. Moodley has learnt to deal with those pitfalls and frustrations.

“The biggest thing that I’ve realised in the time I’ve been here is that this is an amateur sports environment,” Moodley said.

“You’ve got a lot of volunteers and a lot of people who are involved in sport because of pure passion. But there is a lack of high-performance specialists and we have people who might not necessarily give their entire day to their craft.

“Managing that is not something I see as necessarily an obstacle, it’s just something that you have to take into account. We never use it as an excuse, but it's something that we will have to accept, own and try to adapt.”

One of the younger players in the Bermuda camp is Grace Lightowler and she was pleased to test herself against high-level opposition.

“It was nice to experience something different and a different level of hockey than we have on the island,” Lightowler said.

“It was also just good to play against a team that we don’t know, so that we have to adapt to different things.

“This is a big year for us and it would be really exciting if I was selected for the CAC Games. I love playing with the girls and I see a lot of them as my mentors.”

Laura Gingrich, head coach at Alvernia University was perhaps best placed to give an assessment of the Bermuda team and she saw plenty of talent on show.

“It’s definitely a different style than we are used to,” Gingrich said.

“Bermuda play more of a long-passing game, whereas we think in steps, but their play is great and I can't believe some of these women and how skilled they are.

“We are using this trip mostly for team bonding and team preparation for the fall season. You get to learn a lot about the character of your players and who's going to be the emerging leaders. It’s been such fun to be here for the camaraderie and the culture.”