Former national cycling coach Philippe Mauduit was of great help to the Island?s established riders, but Bermuda Bicycle Association overlooked one important aspect when it came to bringing new recruits into the sport ? the Frenchman?s command of the English language.

BBA president Danielle Bezant said Mauduit, whose short-term contract came to an end at the end of last season, contributed greatly to Bermuda?s success on the international stage at events including the Island Games, the Pan-Am Games, the World Bs and the Caribbean Championships.

However, an important aspect of the coach?s role was to help attract future Kris Hedges and Melanie Claudes to cycling and his broken English made this difficult.

?Having Philippe here last year was vitally important to us. With the four international events we had I don?t think we could have coped without him,? said Bezant, adding ?the tough part with him was the language barrier. We needed him to do some more of the recruiting in the schools.

?He was great with the national squad and great with the adult riders but in communicating with the junior riders the language barrier would have been really difficult. We could not have sent him into the schools, it would have been far too difficult.

?He had wonderful ideas about going into the schools but it just wouldn?t have been feasible.

?In hindsight, when we look back, we really should have insisted on the English but we didn?t know that until he got here. I think next time we would definitely have to have someone who had a better command of the English language.?

The BBA will not be rushing to find a replacement as there are no major overseas events on the horizon.

?Rather than put ourselves through that expense (of hiring a coach) when we don?t really have any international events on the calendar this year, I think it?s best to say ?OK, let?s put in on the back burner for now,? but not to be forgotten because we obviously need a national coach,? Bezant said.

?We are looking forward to the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and if we have people who are really serious about competing there then we will need a national coach, we will need someone with the expertise to coach them properly.?