Bermuda Football Association (BFA) will today announce the national men’s and women’s squads for this year’s Small Island Games which kick off on the Greek Island of Rhodes at the end of the month.

Beyond the spotlight of the United Soccer League and the Island Soccer League, Bermuda’s Small Island Games representatives have gradually intensified their preparations and now find themselves among the countries expected to be in the hunt for medals.

Bermuda’s men’s team, coached by interim national coach Kenny Thompson, have been placed in Group B and will clash against Aland on June 30 in their opening contest and then meet Ynysmon on July 1 — with only the top team in the group advancing to the knockout stage that begins on July 4.

“It’s a young team but based on seeing the guys train on a number of occasions I think we should do really well in this particular tournament,” BFA technical committee chairman Mark Trott stated.

Meanwhile, the women’s squad, coached by Vance Brown and Jeremy Salaam, have also been placed in Group B and will take on Guernsey — hosts for the 2003 Games — on June 30 and West Island on July 2.

The women captured the bronze medal at the last Small Island’s Games in Shetland in 2005 and will no doubt be looking to improve on that showing, coach Brown said.

“That is definitely the plan and I think our team will have a good mixture of youth and experience,” he added.

The team could be further bolstered by college stars Cheyra Bell, Tiffany Swan, Tschana Wade and Raneika Bean whose names are expected to be included on the list when the squad is finally announced.

As for overall preparations, Brown said: “Everything has gone pretty steady and we also intend to take some younger players along to give them a bit of exposure.”