Young gymnasts Rosie Finnigan and Morgan Beckles will take on their greatest challenge this summer when they represent Bermuda in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico at the CAC Games.

And national gymnastics coach Duke Nelligan said it will be like "going into the shark tank" for the two youngsters, such will be the quality of competition they will face.

"The CAC Games is a very big competition. The standard will be huge. Mexico has a great programme, Puerto Rico will be tough and Venezuela looks good at this point. And of course you have Cuba. All these countries are looking to establish themselves at top 10 programmes (in the world)."

Last weekend the Bermuda Gymnastics Association held an in-house meet where Beckles and Finnigan tried out new and tougher routines they will need to do at the CAC Games.

"Rosie didn't have a particularly good meet this past weekend and part of it was because she is trying some new things that needed to be perfected for the CAC Games in order for her to have a good showing there.

"These two youngsters are going into the shark tank! But you have to pay your dues. It is a little rugged in the beginning. They are going to be in there with the big guys and that is a major undertaking. It is a huge step up from the Island Games and other overseas meets they have been to before.

"Last weekend's meet allowed them to try out the new routines and then from there you go abroad and test it out. You see how you hold up against some of the best."

And Nelligan said he knows that the two 14-year-olds will be nervous in Puerto Rico in July.

"I would expect them to be nervous – but also to come back and say to themselves 'I understand why we have been training so hard and why we have been doing what we are doing. Now we are going to take it to the next level'."

Bermuda's top two gymnasts previously were Caitlin Mello and Kaisey Griffiths who both flew the flag for Bermuda at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and last year's World Championships in London.

Nelligan said that Finnigan and Beckles are not where those two were at. "I don't believe that these two are at the point where they are in the Kaisey Griffiths of Caitlin Mello league. But they are making progress quickly and the future looks good. Hopefully we can keep them healthy and happy and keep them learning – keep their passion to learn.

"Morgan has adopted many of the skills that we saw in London with Kaisey – and in a short period of time – she has put some of these things to use in a good routine."

Nelligan is also passionate about training Bermuda coaches to take over the programme. And he is also passionate about having top coaches work with the youngest gymnasts.

"If you have your best coaches spending time with young children, by the time they are old enough to travel and represent Bermuda they have been indoctrinated in a disciplined system instead of the top coaches taking them over (when the gymnasts are older) and then having to get them to pull off a miracle with the athletes that the are handed to them. It is all about getting a system that chooses the right children and brings them together with great coaches."

And Nelligan also is hoping that Bermuda can host an international meet in the next year. Last weekend at the in-house meet he brought in Paul Spadaro, president of the United States Association of Independent Gymnastic Clubs (USAIGC) and his wife Mary Bakke who is a national gymnastics judge for USA Gymnastics and the national technical chair for the USAIGC.

Spadaro was here to assess Bermuda's potential as a future site for USAIGC international competitions and Nelligan said: "Hopefully in the next eight to 12 months we can host an international meet – it is exciting. The president (Spadaro) was absolutely thrilled with our facility at Southside. We will see them again in Ft. Lauderdale at the Nationals and from there we will be working out a date and a time to bring them back for a three or four-day event. I want to invite Bermudians to see what coaching is all about and perhaps find some people who want to become coaches. I want to grow the programme from within – I want to help have a strong base where the Bermudians take over and are ready run the show."