An unprecedented agreement enabling Bermuda's top junior tennis players to compete in US tournaments is being served up by the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association and their American counterparts.

The official programme described as "mutually beneficial" is currently being finely tuned and could be up and running by the end of the year. It will include up to three tournament exchanges along the East Coast for gifted Island youngsters, with US juniors travelling to Bermuda in return.

It is understood up to 12 players, aged 18 and under, would be involved on each occasion, depending on the age group of the event.

President of Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) David Lambert 9pictured) envisages the structured arrangement with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) as pivotal in developing youth tennis on the Island.

"In Bermuda the tennis talent pool is of a high standard ¿ as high as many other parts of the world," he said. "But a problem we've identified is that most of our young crop only get the chance to play against each other on a regular basis.

"In order to improve our best players need to be stretching themselves beyond Bermudian opposition. I wish an agreement like this had been in place when I was a junior.

"The great part of this mutual beneficial agreement is that the East Coast is so near Bermuda. It would allow our players to represent the Island in tournaments in New York, Atlanta, and Boston, offering different opponents of a higher standard.

"The Caribbean takes longer to get to and can be quite expensive and I've been informed that many clubs along the East Coast coast are keen to have their players compete in some of the junior tournaments in Bermuda."

Last week Mr. Lambert attended the US Open, accompanied by Minister of Sport Randy Horton, and held talks with Director at large on the USTA Katrina Adams, and president of the USTA Jane Brown Grimmes.

He believes the agreement would offer youngsters ideal preparation for ITF ranking events such as the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup, Caribbean Under-14 Championships, as well as the Jitic Tennis Tournament.

"We need our best players to accumulate as many ITF points as possible for their world rankings, especially in terms of gaining US scholarships. These tournaments on the East Coast would be great preparation for that. Only those players who have competed in BLTA sanctioned events and achieved the very top rankings will be selected to represent their country in the US. It will also benefit our local tournaments to have top US players compete."

Alison Towlsen, one of the vice-presidents of the BLTA, said the agreement with the USTA was still at an early stage. She added that it would be the first official arrangement of its kind for junior players.