Gavin Manders will lead the Bermuda team in next month’s inaugural Caribbean Pickleball Championships in Cayman Islands.

Manders, the Pickleball Association Bermuda national director, is expected to play a mentoring role for the team at the tournament, which takes place from February 6 to 9.

Benjamin Jones, Imani Phillips, Sasha Fisher, Johnie Singleton and Mical Russell complete the list of players who will fly the island’s flag in the four-day competition, with Jones, Manders, Phillips and Fisher following up their experience at the World Cup in Peru last year.

The Bermudian athletes will compete in individual and team events against Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Puerto Rico as well as the host nation.

“We have selected a team of six for the Caribbean Pickleball Championships,” the former Davis Cup tennis player told The Royal Gazette.

“There might be one more player for the open elite but the six are confirmed for now.

“The expectation for us is to get on the podium and, as long we get on the podium, it will be a success from our perspective. I believe from a developmental standpoint that we are ahead of most Caribbean countries.

“The only thing we have to be wary of is that most of these countries have athletes with richer racket sports backgrounds. If they have someone who is a former pro badminton player who comes to play pickleball, they’re going to be great.

“Our ultimate goal is to win it, but if we can bring at least a medal to show that we’re top three in the region, that would be a great step for a small island like us.

“This is a performance indicator for our long-term athletic plan. Regional success connects with the National Sports Policy, and at the Pickleball Association we are trying to create a competitive structure.”

The tournament next month presents an opportunity for Bermuda to renew their rivalry with Cayman. The two countries met in the round of 16 at the World Cup, a contest Cayman won 3-2 on a tiebreaker.

“The reason Cayman is hosting is because they have the best facility in the region,” the Bermuda captain said.

“In that facility, Pickleball Cayman, I believe they have 22 courts, 11 of them covered. They have a huge membership base because they don’t charge for membership as it is all covered by corporate sponsors.

“The Pickleball Association Bermuda are a part of the team that have helped organise this structure and it is one of the reasons why I’m going earlier than the rest of the team.

“This event has been sanctioned by the Pickleball Federation of the Americas. Because of that, there are specific rules and regulations we have to follow within the competition.”

Due to logistical challenges brought about by the absence of the direct flight between Bermuda and Miami, some of the players have made themselves unavailable for selection.

“We had a lot of people with work commitments that couldn't get that amount of time off from work,” Manders said. “Travel logistics have caused some issues for our selection process.

“We are working on putting together a team for seniors, but that might not materialise because of the travel time involved.

“The selection exercise is the same one we used in choosing our team for the World Cup. International competition, Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating, local sanctioned events and national ranking is what we looked at.”