Bridge Olympiad, which is being held in Maastricht, Holland.

Having come off the success of the Orbis World Championships of Bridge held last January in Bermuda, the seven member team is now focusing its energy on the up coming event and the chance to compete against the best players from around the world.

"We're excited, but there's quite a lot of work ahead,'' said team captain Edna Clay.

The Olympiad is held every four years and was last held in Greece. This year's event is expected to attract some 4,000 to 5,000 bridge players from across the globe.

"We're keen and very optimistic.'' said Ms Clay.

Ms Clay added that this was a mandatory competition for the Bermuda team if it desired to compete in the next Bermuda Bowl and another event set to be held in Indonesia in 2001.

Since being recognised as a sport by the Olympic Committee, bridge has seen some growth on the Island.

"We're attracting professionals, non-professionals, blacks, whites,'' said Ms Clay, "We're encouraging young people to play. The average age of the team is 44.'' Ms Clay added that bridge was a game which is open to everyone.

The team was compiled after four days of intense trials and three pairs where chosen to represent Bermuda in the Olympiad.

Roman Smolski, Vera Petty, Charles Vaucrosson, David Schroeder, David Cordon and David Sykes were all chosen to represent the Island. All have seen international competition with the exception of Mr. Schroeder.

They will spend the next few months practising for the event and Ms Clay said she was confident that the team will be ready.

"We're hoping for the best.'' she said.