BERMUDA'S gymnasts hope to wrap up this season with another award-winning performance at the USAIGC nationals in Fort Lauderdale Florida this weekend.

The squad has scooped more than 60 medals/trophies on its travels so far this year from three competitions in Chicago, North Carolina and New York.

The senior team flew out yesterday while the junior team goes today for the four-day event, staged at a hotel, which has proved a happy hunting ground over the years.

Bermuda Gymnastics Association (BGA) coach Michelle Strenk said: "We normally do really well - we took first in the platinum division last time as a team.

"And individually they all came home with medals. The junior team won as well."

Bermuda will be up against clubs from all over the US while teams from Canada and South Africa are also competing in an extravangza featuring more than 1,000 individual athletes.

Asked for the goals this time Strenk said: "We are hoping to achieve some all-around titles - individual ones.

"It is going to be really hard for the team awards because they only take the top three scorers from each event.

"We only have three kids at the platinum level and four kids in the silver level while a bigger club from the States might have 15 kids at the silver level so their chances are a lot better than ours."

It will be Bermuda's third time at Fort Lauderdale event which is held at a Hyatt.

Strenk said: "It's really nice, it's onsite where we are staying, we can walk to the ballroom which they have turned into a gym."

However it will be the last time at this venue before the Nationals move to Texas next year.

The team will make the most of the last time around in the Sunshine State as they take in a Florida Marlins baseball game as part of an all-American experience where they will eat hotdogs and apple pie.

The Nationals are the last event of this season before the kids move up a level towards the end of the year when the squad hopes to take part in an invitational club event in Rock Hill, South Carolina in November.

The team will be looking for a good performance as they go into 2009 which is a big year with both the Commonwealth Games and also the 2009 Island Games in Aaland.

The gymnasts have been a instrumental in pushing Bermuda up the medals rankings at previous Island games and

Bermuda slumped last year when Gymastics was not recognized as one of the main sports at Rhodes.