hectic 11-day, 15-match tour of England with games scheduled in Coventry, Birmingham, Cheltenham and Southend.

When the squad entered the Bermuda Ladies Hockey Association in 1994 (as Swifts), Chris West and Dafydd Hermann-Smith, their two coaches, felt the team needed more competition than they had at school level.

During their first season they finished at the bottom of the tables, winning only two games. But this year the team finished in second place in the B League behind Canaries.

Led by team captains Caroline Black and Danielle Skinner, along with three staff members, Hermann-Smith, Elizabeth Campbell and Nicola Wilkinson, the tour party will include players Carolyn Hill, Melanie Eddy, Tiffany Sousa, Katherine Dunleavy, Anna Boden, Emily Black, Ana Anton, Hannah Brackstone, Fiona Herring, Leigh-Anne Shaw, Junita Woolridge, Toni Kelly, Amie Dawson, Bonnie Leibowitch, Suella Matthews, Auralee Cassidy, Caroline Davies, Megan Spurling, Chrisanthi Bartley and Alex Lewis.

It represents the largest hockey tour from Bermuda, and all matches will be played on artificial turf.

Four of the players -- Black, Skinner, Anton and Sousa -- have also been selected for the senior BLHA training squad and have been working out regularly with the Under-21 team.

Other Under-21 team members include Dunleavy, Herring, Shaw, Dawson, Leibowitch, Matthews and Spurling.

UK BOUND -- Saltus School's Under-15 hockey team pictured before their departure last night for an 11-day tour of England.