THE Mid-Island Striders Track Club are hoping to give Bermuda's team a boost at this year's Carifta Games which the Island will be hosting in a few months.

Bill Euler, who formed the Mid-Island Striders four years ago, said his club could help boost the numbers in the Under-20 division for the Carifta Games which will be staged at the National Sports Centre.

Euler said: "We would hope to have about 10 athletes in the Under-20 division qualify for Carifta. I know that there are a lot of Under-17 athletes in Bermuda who are going out for the games but I believe that the numbers are a little down in the Under-20 division."

Euler said that when the club was started in 2000 it was mostly to cater to the middle and high school athletes who perhaps had stopped training. "We wanted them to come back out and they have. Most of our athletes are in the Under-20 group. We do have a few who are Under-17 but Bermuda seems to be lacking numbers in the Under-20 group." he said.

Euler, along with other coaches and athletes from Mid-Island Striders, recently returned from an indoor meet at the renown Armory Track in New York. "This was the first time these athletes have competed on an indoor track ? and a banked one at that ? and they did very well. It was a great experience for them.

Mid-Island Striders have had between 15-20 athletes come out training since the season started in September and now they are in training four to five times a week ? from in the gym doing weights to running the hills and of course on the NSC's track. "At the beginning of the season we did a lot of work on the beach which is excellent for you ? and it also helps prevent injuries which you might get from running on the track all the time."

Most of the athletes ? especially those eight who competed in New York two weeks ago ? are right where the coaches want them to be right now, said Euler.

"Some are close to their personal best which they reached last season," he said adding that they hoped the athletes will be peaking around the time of Carifta and also the Penn Relays which will be held two weeks after Bermuda host the Caribbean event. "Then we have the Junior Olympics and other meets in the summer," he said.

While Euler and his club have had differences with the BTFA over coaching for Carifta, Euler said that he wants his athletes to represent Bermuda when the Island hosts the games in April.

In fact a number of his athletes will be in a BTFA meet this Sunday at the National Sports Centre.

"There are 11 local meets leading up to Carifta and we will perhaps have extra meets overseas," he said.

"Our thing is to train our athletes until March 1. The deadline to choose the Carifta team is March 7 and we have no problem at sending our athletes to them (national programme) at that time. But we feel that we are qualified to get them to that point. Our coaches are really dedicated. They have been working hard ? Tony Bean and Renaldo Swan have been getting our sprinters ready and I have been working with the jumpers and field events. We expect big things from all our athletes. We enjoy working with them and see them reach their goals. It is something where you just love going to train."

The club have also been invited to the Nike Indoor meet in March and also to a meet at the Armory in New York on the same weekend. "We would like to take some of our seniors also to the Florida Relays at the end of March but if they are training with the national squad they might not be allowed to go. We would like to see them go since all the meets leading up to the Carifta Games are local and you get great exposure competing at meets abroad. It is a great learning experience," said Euler.