The full season schedule for Bermuda's new pro team has been announced with the islanders starting off with five home games on the bounce.
And team bosses hope to have the players selected and the roster filled in time for pre-season to begin in February ahead of the April 20 curtain raiser against New Hampshire Phantoms.
Along with fellow newcomers - Crystal Palace Baltimore - the Bermudian side has been given the honour of being the first to play as the United Soccer League Division 2 season kicks off.
It will also be a landmark occasion for Bermuda, with the island's new professional club side, which was given the backing of the BFA this week, in action for the first time.
The opening fixture, details of which were first announced in the Bermuda Sun on November 29, was confirmed yesterday.
And Paul Scope, one of the directors of the new team, said he hoped the team would be picked in time for pre-season training to begin in February.
Scope who will run the team along with coach Kyle Lightbourne and general manager Shaun Goater said the trio already had a few names in mind for the squad. But he said they would hold trials in the new-year to fill the roster.
The Goat has already confirmed that he will be on the squad, though he hopes to be restricted to a substitute's role.
Scope said he was happy with the fixture list, which gives Bermuda five home games in a row at the start of the season.
The opening game, a Friday evening kick off, will be followed a week later by the visit of David Bascome's former side, the Harrisburg City Islanders.
Crystal Palace Baltimore, a new U.S. franchise with links to the London Championship club, will also be on the island the same weekend and take on Bermuda in a Sunday evening game, kicking off at 8pm.
The Cincinnati Kings and the Charlotte Eagles will visit before Bermuda has its first road game at Harrisburg on June 9.
"We are very happy to start with a run of home games and hopefully generate some excitement in Bermuda about the team.
"We think the public will be hungry to try something new and it will be good to get some momentum going at the start of the season."
The majority of Bermuda's early games may be at home, but it looks like a tough finish to the season, with the as-yet unnamed island side facing four away trips on the bounce in a gruelling road trip between August 4 and 11.
Scope said that was exactly the way they had wanted it, with several away games bracketed together, in order to cut down on travel costs.
"The main aim in our first season isn't necessarily the league position. Obviously we want to do well but our objective is to establish ourselves in the league and generate some enthusiasm for the team."
Scope said the number one priority for Lightbourne and himself at the moment was the national team and the Digicel Cup.
But once that is over their focus will switch to assembling their squad and getting everything in place for the start of the USL season.
"We think we'll be able to get players signed up pretty quickly in January. We already have in mind several of the players who we are looking for.
"We will probably hold a combine (trials) in late January or early February to fill the roster.
"We've been in charge of the national team for the last two years and I've been coaching at Trojans for four years, so I've seen every Premier Division player many times.
"But we are not excluding anybody and anybody else who thinks they can make it at that level will be given the chance."
He said the only criteria is that the players would have to be eligible for the national team and will have to have the right attitude.
"Ultimately the idea is to raise the standard of national team players so we'll be looking for guys who are eligible to play for Bermuda."
He confirmed that a 'handful' of players would be recruited as full-time employees for the duration of the season and would also be expected to attend charity events, run coaching sessions and be ambassadors for the side.
The others will be part-timers employed on a pay-as-you-play basis.
Scope added that they would liaise with the clubs about starting pre-season. But he insisted it shouldn't cut into their plans anymore than regular national team training sessions.
