PROFESSIONAL indoor soccer player, David Bascome, is planning a College Prospects Camp in Bermuda following the completion of the annual soccer camp he and England-based pro Shaun Goater stage in the summer.

And Bascome will also be bringing in a representative of the National Scouting Report organisation to talk to promising youngsters and their parents. The NSR is the biggest marketing agency for athletes wanting to get scholarships to US universities.

One of those athletes, 14-year-old Cheyra Bell, has already met NSR's Joe Amato when she visited with Bascome during the Christmas holidays in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - Bascome's base in the US.

Bascome said he also wants the NSR representative to meet other Bermuda athletes at his College Prospects Camp.

"And they do not have to be just football players. NSR is involved with all sports - swimming and track and field being just a couple of them," he said.

Bascome wants his College Prospects Camp to tie into his Bascome Pro Soccer School which he holds every summer in the US.

"Besides the representative of the NSR, I am also planning to bring US coaches to Bermuda to recruit players. And one of the coaches will be working with me at the College Prospects Camps.

Bascome said the college coaches and NSR representative will be looking at players from 14 to 18 years old.

"We are going to ask the players that come to the camp to bring along their resumes. They will in turn get a number - like a number used for road races. If a coach likes the look of them - if he or she has an interest in that player - they only need to take down the number and they will have all the information on the player."

But any player hoping to get a scholarship to a university will have to have good grades, said Bascome. He said: "We cannot have college coaches looking at these players if they do not have passing grades. I am very excited about holding this camp in Bermuda for the first time. It is something I have been doing in the States."

And Bascome will not just be catering to young players hoping to get a scholarship to a US college. He is also planning on bringing a scout from the FC Williams Agency to Bermuda. That agency caters to players wanting to get into the professional game - indoor or the MSL in the US. But again Bascome said that although professional agencies do not care if a player has good grades, he does. "They have to have passing grades because I will not have any player who has not got passing grades in school. Some agents do not care about the grades (for pro scouting) but I feel I need to put that in place because it is so badly needed in Bermuda."

And the College Prospects Camp is not just for boys, said Bascome. "It is for both boys and girls. In fact as far as girls are concerned they would probably pick up a bigger scholarship than a boy. Because of Title IX in the US, there is so much opportunity for girls getting athletic scholarships. It fact is probably easier than for boys. If a college as x number of guys on scholarships they also have to have the same number for girls. There is a lot of opportunities."

For those parents who have kids who excel at other sports, Bascome has welcomed them along to meet the NSR representative during the orientation of the camp.

"NSR does not just deal with soccer but many other sports as well. For the camp we will be having a big orientation where people can come and meet these people - meet Joe. NSR is a huge marketing service and although he is coming on the camp's behalf and his priority is based around soccer, he will be able to talk to athletes who are swimmers, track stars or who are involved in other sports. I am trying to create some avenues for our young people in Bermuda and this is a good way to do it."

Bascome said that college is a very expensive proposition for parents today. "Scholarships can help a great deal - we also will help players get financial aid as well. There are a lot of things that people in Bermuda do not realise about colleges in the US. The NSR is a great service."

NSR promotes itself as giving "a career opportunity for exceptional high school athletes". It has been promoting student-athletes for college since 1980 and each month it receives around one and a half million hits on its website. The organisation also claims it is contact with some 15,000 college coaches around the US.

But one thing that NSR does insist on - that student-athletes have good grades.

"I and NSR insist on that," added Bascome.

Bascome said that he did not go to college. "I did it the hard way. People can look at me and say 'David you didn't do this'. I took a chance back 12 years ago and it was a risky chance. Shaun (Goater) also took that chance. We do not have more than a high school education. I am honest with people about this. But you will not make it in a pro sport unless you are mentally sound. And then only about one percent of people make it in pro sports."

As far as the camp is concerned, Bascome said: "We have to catch these young people quickly. A lot of our young players need to know many things especially the mental state of the game. The need to be educated - to know what is going on. Everyone is trying to make it. We have a problem in Bermuda in that we do not have the fundamentals for the game or, for that matter, life in general. We are always making excuses for things in Bermuda and we have to stop doing that. I know that some coaches in Bermuda have been complaining about some of the things I have said. But it remains that our players not fundamentally sound. I come back every year and see this - we have to go back to the fundamentals. We have kids in Bermuda who have a problem passing a ball but can do a flick. I have so much pride in my country and I want to do what it takes - but I have to be honest and some people do not like that."

But Bascome said he was very pleased with the progress of Bermuda's Under-17 team in the World Cup qualifiers. "They showed what can be done - we have some very talented kids in Bermuda and they progressed very well."

Three players that Bascome has quickly identified for his College Prospects Camp are Cheyra Bell, Thomas Watson and Janai Raynor.

"I have watched them play and have been keeping tabs on them," he said.

Bell visited him over the Christmas holidays and Bascome said of the 14-year-old Bermuda Institute student who is hoping to eventually grab a college scholarship and perhaps play professional later on: "Cheyra is under evaluation now. She has a lot of work to do. I have to set a high standard for her."

Bell said that when she went to the Harrisburg Heat player's home in Pennsylvania in December: "He immediately started working on my attitude to my game. We also watched some games in which boys my age played. We did some one on ones and he gave me a list of things to work on - certain exercises like running, push-ups, sit-ups and squats - a lot of things that will improve my balance. I have to write down what I am doing and send it back to him. It is very nice that he is taking a personal interest in me. There is a lot of work involved - it is not easy but I really want to do it.

"He has also talked to me about the importance of doing well in school."

Bell said she is looking forward to the camp in the summer. "I met an agent for NSR and he talked to me about how my grades have to be up. David told me that I have the (soccer) talent so don't worry about that but concentrate on my grades. I have to have 3.0 average or above to enter any of the schools - I want to enter a Division One school."

Bell said that she has three years left in high school. "But I understand they scout players at about 14 to 15 years old. I find it very exciting."

Concentrating on her studies and soccer has also given a slight diversion to Bell as she lost her father, Derek Bell, in late September last year in an accident.

Derek Bell was a former Premier Division soccer player at North Village as well as an avid cricketer.

His daughter said: "David knew my dad well."

Of dealing with his death, the 14-year-old said: "It is hard. I am at the stage where I don't get upset - I just get mad when I think about the situation. I try to overcome that. When I am mad I want to play football. When I am home I just go outside and kick the ball around. It is not good, it is not bad but it is there and I have to deal with it."

And after visiting Bascome in December, young Cheyra Bell brought back a Harrisburg Heat jersey with the name 'Midgit' on the back - it was her father's name for his daughter.

The Bascome/Goater camp will be staged from June 30 to July 6.

The orientation for the College Prospects Camp will be on June 28 at City Hall and the camp itself will be held from July 7 to 18.