Bermuda must put more emphasise on youth development if they want to have continued success on the international stage, said the team’s coach Andrew Bascome.

Bascome, whose team take on Guatemala in second-round World Cup qualifier on Friday, has stressed a need to foster a positive and stable environment for the next generation.

“I would like to put us back to where we were with regards to the Caribbean,” said Bascome, who took the coaching reins in 2012.

“I want us to be one of the best teams in the Caribbean.

“And I don’t want to hear people saying ‘we’re too small’. It’s not about size. It’s no excuse. Let’s just invest.

“Do you realise how difficult it is for the Brazil coach to call a national training session? He has players away, players in Spain, everywhere. I could call a national training session and get 20 players.

“So why not make sure we have the right education? The right knowledge? The right environment? We have everything here.

“We’re special here. We now need to inspire the next generation. to be hard-working people.”

Bascome wants to instil a love of football and a desire to improve in the younger generation.

“Be responsible. Do what you have to do when no one is supervising you,” he said. “Spend more hours without supervised coaching. Go down to the field. Do your extras.

“Now every time you see a kid today, somebody’s got a whistle on them. ‘Don’t do this, don’t do that’. But they have to try. They have to experiment, especially on their own. Because when they get 14, 15 they don’t want to play anymore.

“Look at our football. Where are all the boys going?

“We have 200 coming in, and we end up with 60 going out. If it’s not the kid then it has to be environment that we have created.”

Bermuda has plenty of talent, but needs room to properly develop.

“We have fantastic talent. I will always say that,” Bascome added. “I believe in Bermuda. But how important is the field, and the facility, in our kid’s development?

“Because if we have a bad surface, too much time has to go into concentrating on the ball. But we’re asking these kids to get their heads up to develop awareness. You cannot develop awareness on a bad surface.

“Let’s get into the primary schools and fix the fields and facilities, and make the kids want to come to school. I went to school because I liked gym. But while I was there I had to do my maths, had to do my English, if not I didn’t get to play gym. Now if it rains at Victor Scott the kids can’t come out to play for two weeks.

“We need work together in this country as coaches. And we have to be humble. We have a lot of talent as coaches, but we seem to not be working together.

“It seems like we have our own little corners. But we are here for the development of football and for our young men. And collectively we can come together, and can develop more.”