THE Bermuda Under-19 lacrosse squad left for the International Lacrosse Federation's World Lacrosse Championships in Coquitlam, BC, Canada this week with high hopes.

After training twice daily for a week in June, the team fared well in the first annual King of the Rock' tournament, beating the senior Bermuda men's team and fairing well against all-star Team MacWear from New York.

"Our players did very well in the King of the Rock Tournament," said volunteer head coach Steve Michel.

"The experience they gained from those two days will be invaluable to them over the next two weeks. The competition they faced in the tournament - Team MacWear had eight former Division I collegiate players and two former professional players - was significantly stronger than any teams we will face in the tournament. While we struggled to compete at that level, you could see our players' confidence growing each moment just from being on the pitch with players of that calibre. We should not be intimidated by any opposing player we go against over the next two weeks.

"We are in a bit of a unique situation in that most of our players attend school off island and we only had the opportunity to practice as a team for one full week before heading off to British Columbia, while many of the other teams have been playing as a unit for at least several months."

There are two competition pools in World Championships and Bermuda's U19 squad will compete in the red pool, in which teams hail from countries where lacrosse is still a developing sport.

"Our team will be facing Finland, Wales, Germany, Scotland and South Korea, in that order. Our goal for the World's is to be competitive and finish in the top half of our pool," Michel explained.

Countries in the blue pool include the United States, Canada, Australia and the Iroquois Nation where lacrosse has become imbedded in national sporting scenes or, in the case of the Iroquois, is viewed as a vital part of a young man's spiritual development.

While coach Michel's outlook on how the team will fare is optimistic, he is also realistic.

"We will most likely be one of the youngest teams in the tournament with two players being 15 years old and several others being only 16 years old. Most other teams will have a full roster of 18 and 19 year old players. More time together would have helped to improve the team chemistry, but I am happy with where the team stands heading into the tournament.

"Our intent at the World Championships is to try to end up in the top half of our pool, which would make us eligible to play against the top teams from the blue pool. Scotland has a heavy contingent of Canadian players and Korea has ten players coming from the US, and given that most of their rosters began playing the game at a much younger age, we anticipate them being our strongest competition. The Finnish, Welsh, and German squads are made up primarily of players from their home countries and while they are similar to us in terms of experience, they have the benefit of having trained and played together as a unit for the better part of a year. Even still, our team has a lot of heart and determination and I suspect we are going to sneak up and surprise a few people, potentially challenging for a high seed going into the inter-pool playoff rounds."

Bermuda Lacrosse Association president Mike Totman, is also travelling with the team and feels the tournament is a sign of things to come.

"Lacrosse has become the fastest growing sport in North America, and the NCAA recognises the sport as its next highly profitable sport. Attendance records were shattered at this year's NCAA collegiate championship game held at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA; home of the New England Patriots and Bermuda's Khano Smith's Revolution. The fact that a lacrosse team has started in the small country of Bermuda, where cricket dominates, shows the extent and strength of this growth across borders," said Totman.

The Bermuda team will be playing every day for the next week with updates available at: http://bermudalacrosse.wordpress.com/

July 3 -12.45 p.m. vs. Finland

July 4 - 9.30 a.m. vs. Wales

July 5 - 10.45 a.m. vs. Germany

July 6 -11.15 a.m. vs. Scotland

July 7 -10.45 a.m. vs. South Korea

July 8-10 - Play-off games

July 12 - Championship game

Times are all listed in Pacific standard time.