Team from Bermuda to play at World Championships

   By Don Burgess
(Sports from 2001-06-06 Edition)

FOR THE first time in history, a team from Bermuda will be competing at the World Ball Hockey Championships. That competition begins on Thursday in Toronto and the 24-member squad will be thrown to the lions in the first match as it faces defending world champion Slovakia. The team also has games against Switzerland and the U.S.

The squad has been in training for four months, but has picked up its intensity over the last two months to three times a week.
Coach Bill Starr said the first match could prove to be brutal as the team has little international experience and faces the defending champs. “One of the big challenges we have in Bermuda is that we don’t have a proper rink. We have a smaller rink. The surface in Toronto is going to be twice the size we play and practice on.”

Starr said normally the men play a wide open style of hockey in Bermuda, but for the championships they will have to play under a more conservative offensive system if they want to compete. “We’re going to play on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “We’re not going to have a lot of guys forward. Hopefully our chances will come up on the power play.” Starr said the squad’s average team age at 33, is much older than the average age of 23 to 24 on the other teams, so the opposition is more likely to have fresh legs.

“From a skill to skill stand point, we’re not kidding anyone, but we’ve worked pretty hard together. If we execute our plan we won’t be blown out too badly against Slovakia.”  Starr said the squad should be able to run with Switzerland. “If we do what we think we can against Switzerland, then it could come down to us against the United States to advance to the semi-finals.  “We would definitely like to steal a win against Switzerland. We’ve built a really good defensive side and if we play within the system we could.”

Michael Moore is the co-coach. Kevin Haddon Harris is the captain while Chad Critchley and Peter Brodsky co-skipper the team.