Chris Naylor, the Bermuda Under-19 men’s rugby coach, wants to tap into other sporting codes in his search for players to represent the island at the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay.

With Olympic eligibility rules in place for the Pan Am Games, set for Asunción from August 9 to 23, some of Bermuda’s finest talent like Finn Watson is not allowed to play.

Naylor is eager to blend some of the naturally gifted with the under-19 players who clinched silver in last year’s Rugby Americas North tournament in Querétaro, Mexico.

“I’m keen to get the best talent out of track and field,” Naylor told The Royal Gazette.

“Obviously they’re going to need to have the physicality to handle themselves on the rugby field. We've got a couple of lads who played a little bit of age group rugby and they moved away to track.

“If they've got some athletic ability, strength and speed then we need them. Sevens is not quite as technical as fifteens, so I’m hopeful we can get these players.

“The Pan Am Games are a platform to strut your stuff, so we’re looking at track and field, football or even basketball. There are a couple of boys we’re looking at, it’s just a matter of enticing them.

“At the moment, they’re a little bit sceptical since they haven't played for a while. They’re not quite sure so it’s a matter of persuading them, but I’m also confident that if we get these athletes together and combine them with our core group of talented under-20s, we’ll have a pretty solid team.

“Last year, we had our first successful under-19 tournament in a long time. It’s a good batch of boys and we've had this opportunity to keep them together.

“There’s also talk of a Carifta under-20 tournament before the Pan Am Games.

“If that happens, it’s even better because that will be a more level playing field without the likes of Argentina, it will just be the Caribbean and it would also be a perfect preparation for us.”

With the qualification based on the Rugby Americas North Sevens played in Trinidad & Tobago last November, Bermuda had initially missed out since they finished fifth.

However, withdrawal of some of the teams has opened the door for the island’s youngsters to showcase their talent against the best in the Americas.

“Because we didn't do as well as we had hoped, we didn’t qualify,” the coach said.

“Now that we have received a slot, it's an exciting time for Bermuda rugby because this is an opportunity we haven't had before. An under-20 tournament when we had a strong team falls perfectly for us.

“It keeps this group of boys playing together for a little longer, which is lovely. These are opportunities not to be missed, we just have to do the right thing by preparing properly.

“What makes it more exciting is that Argentina is going to be there. Their under-20 team beat South Africa last year, so that’s a big challenge for us.

“We just have to target teams like Mexico, Trinidad, who are at our level. Even with our best team, when we play Argentina, it’s going to be a very tough day in the office because they’re at a level above us.

“What we can’t do is take a weakened team down there because that won’t be fair to the lads.”