days of competition in Canada.

The girls -- Laura Murphy, Alexandra Froncioni, Jameelah Saltus, Maria Darby, Sara Cox and Sasha Christensen -- range in age from 10 to 16 and join approximately 2,000 other youths from around the world at the 14th Wimgym Invitational Tournament in Montreal.

It is the first time they have competed at the event, the first meet of the season in Canada and one of the country's biggest.

Some of the girls involved are expected to represent Bermuda at next September's Commonwealth Games in Malaysia and while national coach Walid Mustafa is not expecting miracles in Montreal he believes the team will benefit from exposure to such events. "This will help our girls gauge their progress and when they come back we'll have an idea of where they stand,'' he said.

"We've competed against the Canadian national team before and they are superior to our girls, but we are a young team.

"We don't have a talent pool to draw on like the US or Canada, but coaches from other countries have said that we train harder and we have more focus.

"That's important because in gymnastics anything can happen: you can start poorly and then be in there for a medal if you stay positive.

"I'm a tough coach and I expect a positive mental attitude. I tell my gymnasts to give 100 per cent in whatever they do, whether that be here, at school, or at home with their families.''