THE Bermuda's Men's Federation hockey team is heading to Atlanta this weekend in the hopes of capturing an international tournament title.

It is the second off-island outing for the squad ? culled together from the best players Bermuda has to offer, both Bermudian and expatriate ? and after a heart-breaking loss in the finals on penalty flicks at their first tournament in Virginia Beach, they are hungry for the top spot.

For his part, coach Nigel Pichery said he will be happy to see the team maintain the level of sportsmanship they displayed in May at the Virginia Beach tourney.

"The strengths or weaknesses of this team as compared to the first one which participated in Virginia Beach are of no concern to myself at this point in time," he told . "What I'm looking for is the same or greater level of determination, discipline and commitment displayed by the players who were in Virginia Beach."

The team has had almost four months training since that outing but coach Pichery suggested the fact that they have yet to be tested in match situation may hamper them ? as does not having a dedicated venue at the moment.

"Training has been good but not great," he said. "The players are making supreme efforts and sacrifices to mix our training regimen with their personal and business lives. I have depended a lot on them doing their own individual training sessions to keep their fitness levels up. It is hard to notice any improvement or progress as we have yet to have a practice game against any sort of opposition. Venues to train are proving difficult if not impossible to acquire and it is a distinct possibility that we may enter this tournament with no practice games under our belt."

With hockey's long-awaited Astroturf pitch at the National Sports Centre still not completed, the sport is forced to negotiate for practice and game time at a variety of local pitches including BAA field, Saltus and other schools.

Nevertheless, Pichery said the Atlanta tournament should prove a good match for his team's level and style of play.

He expects to field one of the strongest teams at the event.

"We will probably play six games over the two-day event," Pichery said. "I'm hoping that we're the strongest team there but the Mavericks (out of Washington, DC) may be considered the strongest team there."

The two teams battled to a draw in their last meeting at Virginia Beach, but Pichery hopes this time Bermuda will have the edge.

Six new faces will be on the line-up in Atlanta but coach Pichery is almost as worried about the distractions of the city as his about the competition.

"I've already called upon the players to be prepared mentally for this tournament so I'm hoping that they will be suitably focused on playing a high level of the game over the two days," he said. "I think one of the major distractions of this tournament is that it is so easy to be distracted by the proximity of the big city itself and abundant social life and activities that exist within."

The tournament was selected for the team after plans to attend the Banks Festival in Barbados, a week-long event held in August, fell through.

"Unfortunately, we had to put our timetable for Barbados back a year to the 2005 tournament, Pichery said. "There was not enough time to allow players to properly plan for this trip as far as time off from work, personal and business vacations and finances."

Atlanta offers closer proximity to Bermuda and a shorter-time commitment from the players.

Bermuda's Federation Team was started in February and originally laid out an ambitious slate of tourneys for the players.

But the ultimate goal is to develop a team of Bermudians, seasoned through playing with the best competition available to them, to field a viable national squad in high-profile, international competitions.

"Our plans for the future have not changed," Pichery said. "The programme remains steadfast in its plan to prepare 16 Bermudian players for the 2006 CAC Games."

First things first, however, there is the competition in Atlanta to face.

"(The tournament) basically contains all the ingredients necessary to properly test our Federation Squad," said Pichery. "Good technical teams, a decent amount of games over the two days and a good level of hockey. The teams there will be typical of what we seen along the eastern coast of the US. Good basic techniques with solid structures and game plans which revolve around two or three key players."

He added: "We will try to play the same way that we did in Virginia Beach ? by employing a high workload and not giving our opponents too much time on the ball."

It is the squad's last shot at glory in 2004.

"I'm giving the players a break upon our return as they've been involved in this programme since February," Pichery said. "We will re-evaluate the programme in the closing weeks and then re-start slowly in the new year once the new turf is in place. I'm hoping to have a weekly time slot for training up at the turf and increase it to twice weekly nearing the time of our first 2005 tournament."

Once the new pitch is in place, Pichery hopes to draw international competitors to the Island and give local sports fans an opportunity to see the men play.

"I am hoping that the Bermudian public gets a chance to see this team on display," he said. "They play a good style of fast attacking hockey and they are always a joy to watch. Hopefully we can convince a team to come here and play a couple of tests against us."

The players travelling to Atlanta with this Federation squad are: Neil Carroll, Bill Spencer, David Gutteridge, Keir Savage, Kevin Hill, Kirk Edmunds, Mark Ray, Matthew Spencer, Nigel Deane, Peter Hughes, Shannon Simons, Simon Van De Weg, Stephen Ludgate, Stephen Troake and Stuart MacKellar.