in Barbados contains five players who have already represented the country in the senior team at the 1998 CAC Games.

Four of the five -- Megan Spurling, Caroline Black, Alex Lewis, Hannah Ellison -- played in the last junior tournament in Chile in 1997. The only one who didn't was Bonnie Liebowitch. Two who missed the CAC Games, Megan Leitch and Sharmini Thamotheram, also played in Chile.

Added to the squad are goalkeeper Jenna Robinson, defenders Lisete Moniz, Claire Dorrington and Anne Marwick, utility pair Sarah Cooper and Cathie Hay, midfielders Melissa Durran and Jessica Sousa and forwards Kim Frith, Fiona Lee and Erica Frith.

By international standards it is a young squad, with an average age of just 171 . However, it is older and far more experienced than the 1997 team which finished in seventh place.

Yet Bermuda remain one of the Cinderella nations of Pan-American hockey and the only one of the countries without an artificial surface to play and train on.

Such disadvantages make an improved position on the Chile tournament unlikely, with the team's main aim to prove that its standards are rising and getting closer to those of other island nations such as the hosts, Jamaica and Trinidad.

In addition to those two, traditional powerhouses Argentina, Canada, the US, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay will be involved in the April tournament. Bermuda's main hope of success will come against Venezuela, who they beat both in Chile and at the 1998 CAC Games in the South American country.

The final squad, minus its four university players, took on a Senior XI last Sunday, narrowly losing 2-1. Alex Lewis, in goal, and Lisete Moniz were in sparkling form, keeping a wave of Senior attacks at bay. The Seniors eventually took a two goal lead but Erica Frith pulled one back, taking advantage of a defensive fumble to slam one past the keeper.

In league action over the weekend, all the women's B teams assembled to participate in the annual B Cup tournament.

Nine games were played to decide who would face off in the final and after defending champions Cardinals were knocked out, Canaries and Swallows were left to fight for the trophy.

In the end, Swallows triumphed, aided by an excellent goal from forward Karen Turner.

The men's scene, meanwhile, saw Rebels and Upstarts in an exciting match. The Rebels' David Gutteridge opened the scoring after a solo dribble through the opposition defence was followed by a shot from a sharp angle.

Captain Simon Van de Weg added a second, finishing off a partially cleared short corner. Gutteridge got a second in the second half, while Upstarts replied twice to make the final score 3-2.

In a middle schools knockout last week at Nationals, boys' team Spice Valley beat the girls of BHS 4-0. Damian Sivon scored twice while Shannon Simons and Kanhai Fray got one each. Whitney beat Warwick Academy 2-1 after trailing to a Gavin Manders goal. They hit back with two goals from Derek Brangman.