Although the start of the next hockey season is still weeks away, Bermuda Ladies Hockey Association are preparing for a series of changes to enhance the sport on the Island.

With hopes of trying to convince other nations that Bermuda will be able to host international tournaments, the BLHA want to introduce a more professional approach this season, said BLHA spokesperson Karen Turner.

This means using full international-style rules for some of their tournaments throughout the season.

If successful, the BLHA may be able to revive the International Hockey Festival, which folded several years ago, and play games at the new National Sports Complex, currently under construction.

The BLHA sent three representatives to the Pan American Hockey Federation's Technical Conference in Caracas, Venezuela, in June, the first ever technical conference attempted by any of the sport's world regional governing bodies.

The idea was to bring together players, coaches, umpires and technical officials at the international level and to move towards solving some of the problems each group has at the international tournament level, Turner said.

The BLHA also has plans to travel to a four-nation tournament in Barbados, a hockey camp in the US, and is training for the 1998 CAC games in Venezuela.

"Hopefully, 1997/98 will be an exciting year for women's hockey in Bermuda,''said Turner.

Seven junior players will attend a US hockey camp this month to build international experience. Meanwhile, the senior squad have been training for the past few weeks, beginning their year-long preparation for the 1998 CAC Games.

The 33-player squad, with an average age of 24, is one of the youngest selected for an international tournament.

Coaches Kath Davis, Steve Moreton and Dafydd Herman-Smith believe the squad have a good balance of seasoned experienced players, overseas college players and members of the under-21 squad, which earned two wins at the Pan American Junior Championships in January. Canadian Umpire Richard Kentwell will visit the Island in early September to conduct a series of seminars and clinics for the local umpires in an effort to improve the standard of officiating.

Locally, six clubs will compete in the B League -- new team Swallows joining the fray -- while five teams remain in the A League.