Bermuda Hockey Federation (BHF) technical director Dafydd Hermann-Smith expects the federation's Under-17 girls team to give a good showing of themselves at the upcoming Pan American Youth Championships in Uruguay – although they have their work cut out for them.

The Island will be represented by one of the youngest teams at this year's Games as the squad look to qualify for the Youth Championships later this year in Singapore.

They have an average age of 15 years, 10 months and will be among the youngest to take part at the tournament, with only four players having international experience.

Hermann-Smith, who has been an integral part of Bermuda's youth system for more then a decade, make no qualms about the quality of the opposition the girls will face, admitting in some games they could get blown away.

But he believes the exposure to the international game will be valuable to their future development.

"Our other expectations for this team are to come together as a unit and be the building block for the next Pan American Under-21 team in two years time," said Hermann-Smith.

"In addition they are expected to represent Bermuda proudly, do their very best at all times and to be ambassadors for the country.

"Our expectations for this tournament are simple – we cannot compete against USA and Chile – I anticipate those countries may well score between 12 and 15 goals against us. The object is to defend as well as we can and try to keep as much ball possession as we can get.

"Against Uruguay we will try to be as competitive as we can be and score, but realistically they should score between five and eight goals against us, while Mexico are always an unknown. If their federation has spent money on the team they could be quite good, but if not then they could be beatable.

"If we play Paraguay then this is a game in which we have our best chance of gaining a good result."

The side play the US in their first match on March 13, followed by dates with Uruguay on March 14, and the completion of their pool games against Chile on March 16.

A match against Mexico and a final classification game against Paraguay could follow up the final pool game on the March 20.

The top four nations in the tournament are Argentina, US, Chile and Canada. The other nations are Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bermuda could find the going tough.

Utility player Ryanne Bardgett and forward Katie Masters are the most experienced players on Bermuda's squad, with both having already represented Bermuda's senior and Under-21 teams in October 2008 in Mexico as well as the Pan Am Under-21 tournament and more recently in February 2009 at the Pan-American Cup held in Bermuda.

Two other players with experience will be defender Emily Chadderton and midfielder Jennifer Chisnall, who played with the 2008 Under-21 squad.

For the remaining players this will be their first time representing Bermuda.

The squad of 34 players have been training every Monday night since last March and last summer played several matches against visiting schools and colleges.

During the Christmas break the players also attended a three-day training camp and since October have undertaken physical training sessions every Thursday.

Hermann-Smith admitted the side will be leaning on their experienced players in this tournament.

"This is not really a problem in an age group side as there are never very many experienced players and this is nothing new for Bermuda age group teams," he said.

"They will be very nervous prior to their first game against the USA and those nerves will show on the pitch, but once the first game is out of the way they will pick themselves up and perform much better in the remaining games.

"Of course we expect the four girls who have some experience to help out with the less experienced players but I do not think this will be anything new for a Bermuda age group team.

"If, as we hope, these players move into the Under-21 team then we would hope this experience would benefit them in future competitions."

Manager Juliette Oatley, assistant manager Stephanie Adderley, coaches Lakae Dill and Valerie Young along with technical director Hermann-Smith, will accompany the squad.

The final squad includes players from Saltus, BHS, MSA, Berkeley and one overseas player who play for Swifts, Ravens, Swallows, Longtail/Canaries and Wildcats in the Bermuda Hockey Leagues.

Bermuda Squad: Goalkeepers- Latonia Fray, Keisha Harvey; Defenders- Jokiah Richardson, Heather Sinclair, Megan Lindsay-Bayley, Rhea Gibbons, Rachel Soares, Zoe Friesen, Emily Chadderton; Utility Players- Ryanne Bardgett, Safiya Nurse; Midfielders- Christine Decker, Lorina-Le Harvey, Jennifer Chisnall, Iman Smith; Forwards- Raven Pearman, Alex Francis, Lorendae Symonds, Katie Masters.