Ipswich Town could become the next English club to have a Bermudian player on their books after four coaches visited the island this week.

The coaches, led by Steve McGavin who is the head of recruitment at the Ipswich Academy, held a weeklong camp at the Clyde Best Centre of Excellence, putting youngsters through their paces, as well as watching some Player Development League matches.

It was set up by Devonshire Colts, who contacted English company Vidapro, which does scouting and provides coaches for Ipswich.

“It was a partnership through Colts, the Bermuda Football Association, the BFCA [Bermuda Football Coaching Association], Vidapro and Ipswich to put on a camp to give people knowledge, not just the kids but we also have classroom sessions in the evening” Ray Jones, the Colts president, said.

“We at Colts thought about it and said a lot of parents are in the dark about what it takes to be in an academy, and that’s why we have added the evening sessions.”

The camp has included morning and afternoons sessions and has been open to players from all clubs, aged from ten to 21.

“In the morning we have 53 participants and in the evening we have 25,” said Jones, the Colts first-team coach.

“Obviously we have Devonshire Colts players here but personal invites went out to every club to send a player in each age bracket and I was pleasantly pleased that most clubs responded.

“A few spots were left and some clubs asked if they could send more than one player and we were able to accommodate those clubs.”

Jones said forming a connection with an English club could open doors for possible trial opportunities in the future.

“It’s called the ID Camp, and if the coaches see somebody they like who knows where it can go,” Jones said.

“The main aim was to give the boys an experience similar to an academy experience, what a weeklong camp would look like if they were in an academy, and to give the parents some knowledge if they had the ambition to get their son into an academy.

“Hopefully these kids will take these experiences back to their clubs. Devonshire Colts put it together but it is not just a Colts initiative.

“It’s really something we wanted to share with all the clubs.”

McGavin said he had been impressed with the talent on show.

“Like anywhere in the world there is talent and we’ve identified that,” he said. “It’s about developing relationships, a trust element when people know what we’re doing, and there may be opportunities in the future for boys from the island.

“It’s only been after coming here that I realised how many [Bermudian] boys have been proactive in terms of going to the United Kingdom, some of them we’ve played against for other teams.”

Also part of the clinics is Vidapro — a video recording and video analysis company based in Essex — which provides video of young players for professional clubs.

Ray Gulutu, the principal behind Vidapro, which was set up last year, also works closely with McGavin at the Portman Road club.

Ben Smith, another coach who works with Vidapro, is also on the trip along with Scott Mitchell, an Ipswich Academy coach.

“My job is to find the talent, to be honest we predominantly recruit from our local area so we have some restrictions on travel times,” McGavin added. “Our priority will always be our local talent but currently we’ve got boys in our academy from Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and Ireland.

“We’re a club who has always produced players from our academy, players who have played for England. We’ve also sold a lot of talent. Recently we sold Tyrone Mings to Bournemouth for £8 million, but we have a history of producing players and have to carry on doing that.

“More and more parents in England are realising that you probably have a better opportunity [for a young player] at a Championship or League One club.”

Gulutu’s belief that there is a growing demand for video technology inspired him to set up Vidapro, which helps clubs spot new talent.

“What we found was that in grassroots football there was no real use of video technology, partly because of the cost but realistically because no one really bothered,” he said. “While we’re here we are also working with 16 to 18 Bermuda players and tonight we’re doing fitness testing with the under-20s. Most of that will be recorded so it will be useful for the BFA in terms of assessment of players for scouting.”