Bermuda suffered a controversial loss to Dominica in their final match at the Jean Pierre Caribbean Youth Tournament in Antigua and Barbuda yesterday.

The island’s team went down 36-23 in a contest marred by poor officiating.

“Despite a valiant effort, unfortunately we had to contest with really poor officiating and it demoralised the girls,” Kimale Evans, the Bermuda Netball Association president, said.

“They continued to fight hard but there are just some things that are beyond our control. We’ve been advised to form an official complaint, of which we will take into consideration in reference to what was witnessed by the umpiring panel that assesses the umpires.”

The teams were tied at 10-10 at the end of the first quarter. However, Dominica outscored Bermuda 11-3 in the second quarter and never looked back.

Bermuda coped better defensively the rest of the way but the damage had already been done.

Asreal Basden was Bermuda’s leading scorer with 20 goals while Selah Tuzo chipped in two and Jade Johnston one.

The island’s team, predominantly made up of players under the age 16, finished fifth among the seven participating countries with two wins and four losses from their six matches.

Evans said the island’s players showed plenty of growth over the course of the tournament.

“This tournament has been amazing for our young ladies,” she added. “We’ve seen growth from every single individual in more ways than anyone can ever imagine.

“This was an eye-opening experience that these young ladies will remember for the rest of their lives. It’s also going to bode well for them to want to stick together and keep going and trying to improve.

“Our young ladies handled themselves extremely well. They had excellent deportment, excellent sportsmanship and respected every single call that was made. I can definitely say it was a success.

“The wins will come and as long as we continue to develop the youth and develop netball we are going to continue to push forward and do extremely well.”

Bermuda beat Grenada 24-23 and Antigua and Barbuda 25-13 before losing 35-15 to Trinidad and Tobago, 41-11 to Barbados and 41-22 to St Lucia in their remaining matches.

Barbados went undefeated to win the tournament named after late renowned international netballer Jean Pierre, of Trinidad and Tobago.