Coach Gary Adams wants his players to reward themselves for their hard work by qualifying for the Concacaf Women's Under-17 Championship.

After months of training, the Bermuda team left on Sunday for Orlando, Florida, for more preparations. The young women played friendly matches against Montverde Academy on Tuesday and Thursday, and depart today for Puerto Rico, where group A action is taking place.

On Monday, Bermuda play Cayman Islands, followed by an encounter with St Vincent & the Grenadines on Wednesday. Two days later, they meet Puerto Rico to conclude the campaign.

Securing top spot in the group or being one of the two best runners-up from the six groups played across the Caribbean will secure Bermuda a spot in the championship in Toluca, Mexico, from March 31 to April 6.

Making it to the final tournament presents an opportunity to qualify for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup to be held in Morocco in October and November.

“Ideally, you want to win the group, that’s everybody’s intention,” Adams told The Royal Gazette.

“But that being said, we’re not taking any team lightly. We’re going to respect the game and the opponent, and do what we have to do to the best of our ability.

“It would be nice to qualify out of the group or even to qualify as one of the two second-placed teams to get to the next round. I’m sure all teams in the group are thinking the same thing, so we have to stick to our game plan and do the best that we can.

“We've been fortunate to get an insight into Puerto Rico because they had games within the last year. Not much information is available about St Vincent or Cayman, but we’ll try to find something in the next couple of days.

“Right now, we’re not so much worried about footage of other teams; it’s mainly concentrating on our strengths. If we play to the best of our ability, the results will take care of themselves.”

Adams is counting on the experience of players who were in the Bermuda squad for the last qualifiers in Dominican Republic. Taya Rodrigues, Zelaye Showers, Keyandae Lightbourne, Jayla Peets-Butterfield, Saony Trott, Evans Welch and Ja’Shay Trott are some of notable names from the 2023 side.

“We still have a handful of girls who were part of the last tournament two years ago,’’ the coach said. “The experienced players should make a difference.

“We really have a good bunch with a lot of technical players in the team. We’re going to be doing something a little different this time around; let’s just see if they go out there and work as a team, put their best foot forward and make themselves proud.”