BERMUDA'S 14-and-under tennis players received what their coach Howard Cross described as "a rude awakening" when they made their debut in the World Junior Tennis Competition last week.

In a regional qualifying tournament in the Dominican Republic, the boys team lost all their fixtures and finished last out of ten countries, while the girls won one match against the Netherlands Antilles and finished eighth out of ten.

Cross said this week that the youngsters had seen first hand how hard top young players from other countries trained and how they would have to work harder to compete with them.

And though he believed some of his youngsters had at times showed a lack of spirit and concentration, he felt they had improved during the course of the tournament and would benefit from a tough learning experience.

"The level was very high and every match was played like a final, so there was no chance to relax at all," said Cross.

"Our kids need to work on a few things, like their fitness level and they need a lot of serving practice. They double-faulted too much and didn't get enough first serves in. You need to get the basic stuff right to be able to improve."

Youngsters' attitudes had to toughen up for Bermuda to succeed in international junior tennis, added Cross.

"Bermuda need more spirit in their game," said the coach. "Too many Bermuda kids - and I think this goes for all sports - think: 'It's no big deal whether I do good or bad'.

"When they get beaten, it does not seem to really matter to them. They think: 'I've won five games, so that's OK'. They just look at their sport as a hobby and they don't feel bad about how they lost.

"They don't want to push themselves to the brink and that is the only way to get to the next level. I think out of the group, there were one or two who were thinking: 'I have got to go home and work on my serve and my volleying if I want to come back and compete and succeed'."

Jasmine Quinn, Amanda Burn and Jacqeuline Lambert represented the girls, while the boys were David Thomas, Larson Grimm and Johnny Holland. Unavailable through school commitments was Kris Frick and also missing was Ashley Brooks, who is playing for Bermuda 16-and-unders in the Junior Davis and Fed Cup competition being played this week, also in the Dominican Republic.

"It wasn't the strongest 14s team we could have had, but it was still a strong team," said Cross.

"The girls came eighth in the end because they managed to win a match, against the Netherlands Antilles. And the boys did pretty well to be able to hang in with some of those guys.

"David Thomas fought hard and nearly won a match when he was a set up and 3-1 up, but then he fell and hurt his arm and ended up losing, but it was a gallant try. And Larson fought hard too. In fact, you could see some improvement between day one and the end of the tournament. With each day, they were getting more in tune with the level of competition."

Cross was convinced his young charges would come out of their difficult experience all the stronger.

"They were not expecting this level of competition, so it was a real eye-opener for them," said Cross. "They saw how dedicated the other kids were and how hard they worked.

"Seeing is believing. When you witness something for yourself, then you learn quickly. The first year Trinidad took part in this competition they finished bottom, but this time they finished third. I'm sure we can do better in the future as well."