Bermuda Squash Racquets Association (BSRA) will host this year's Junior CASA Championships at their Devonshire courts in July.

The annual tournament, sponsored by the Bank of Bermuda Foundation, runs from July 11 to July 19 and will include at least seven teams from the Caribbean - Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago - as well as Venezuela.

Although Bermuda are one of the smallest countries competing in Caribbean squash, the Island's juniors performed exceptionally well in last year's Junior CASA, held in the British Virgin Islands, with the girls' team finishing second and the boys' team placing third.

Hosting the championships lends a slight advantage to the home country, and as such Bermuda will be looking for an improvement on last year's results.

Ross Triffitt, BSRA director, is delighted about the prospect of hosting such a showpiece on local soil.

"Hosting Junior CASA in Bermuda brings the very best youngsters from all over the Caribbean to the Island, giving our own juniors the incentive to compete for places on the team and to support their team members," said Triffitt.

"All of our juniors, including players on the fringes of getting into our national team, enjoy a unique opportunity to meet young people from all backgrounds who are keen on the sport.

"It is this kind of exposure to exciting international competition that helps to raise our standards and keeps our youngsters excited about squash.

"Many of the visiting players are hosted by local families and this encourages everyone involved to form lasting bonds of friendship throughout the Caribbean."

Each country will send up to 14 players, comprising a boys' team and a girls' team, including two Under-19s, one Under-17, one Under-15, one Under-13, and two reserves. The Championships include both individual and team events.

The BSRA's junior squash programme has experienced a 10 percent growth in the last 12 months, with more than 6,000 schoolchildren visiting the club and approximately 200 children playing on a regular weekly basis.