Concerns raised over the restructuring of youth football was the hottest topic of discussion during the Bermuda Football Association’s annual general meeting at Devonshire Recreation Club on Thursday night.

The association has received complaints from parents and the clubs over the changes, with the decision to stage under-15 matches before Premier Division matches on Sundays drawing the most fierce criticism.

The Royal Gazette understands that parents and the clubs strongly oppose playing under-15 games on Sundays because they feel it puts the players at risk to antisocial behaviour that has flared up at Premier Division matches in the past.

There is also the issue of a scheduling conflict, as there are a number of under-15 players who are involved in the Bermuda Cricket Board’s Academy, which is also held on Sunday, therefore potentially forcing the players to choose between sports.

“We have certainly had some questions come back from parents concerned about some of the conflicts, but we still believe in reasons why we chose the under-15s,” Mark Wade, the BFA president, said.

“One of the reasons was that a lot of the under-17 players will be playing in their first teams or being involved in some way, so we didn’t feel like that was an appropriate age group to play on Sundays.

“[We] thought that anyone younger would have even more reliance on their parents to get to where they need to go.

“We thought that the under-15s was the group that possibly had a little more independence and could really use the added spotlight.

“The other reason was also we are trying to bring the family atmosphere back to clubs, so what better way than to have families come and watch football?

“We are still trying to work with clubs and try to figure out how we can get the family atmosphere back and take back our clubs. The games will start at 12.30pm and will be over by 2pm, so it gives the family now the opportunity to stay and watch some of the senior football.”

Other changes will unclude under-13 matches to be played on Friday nights and Saturdays with other age groups held on Saturdays.

“We asked the clubs let’s work it for this season,” Wade said. “We had a focus group put together and that’s the structure they agreed on. But that focus group will also evaluate throughout the course of the season just to see how it is going and whether or not we need to make any further changes. Overall, i’s going to be very positive.”

Bermuda’s successful hosting of the Concacaf Caribbean Women’s Under-20 Qualifier, the Bermuda Under-20 men’s historic run in the Concacaf Championship and the now mandatory coaching certification for coaches at all levels were among the other topics discussed at the meeting, which lasted over three hours.