yesterday by the two individuals chosen to mastermind it -- technical director Clyde Best and new chairman of coaching Jon Beard.

The move was initiated by Best after witnessing Bermuda's under-21 players in two recent tournaments in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.

"Having seen all of our national teams perform I have decided to assemble a new group of coaches that we feel can help us to run a comprehensive programme, one that puts the emphasis on youth development. We need to start afresh,'' said Best.

"Both Jon and I feel that it is the right way to go, and it is important to get all of our coaches involved. Kenny Thompson is actually the youth development coach and is responsible for the development of players at the national level from 12 to 18.'' The BFA's staff coaches as of now include Beard, Thompson, Robert Calderon, Dennis Brown, Josef Gooden, Herbie Bascome, Mark Trott, Vance Brown, John Tucker, Wendell Furbert and former national coach Gary Darrell.

Andrew Bascome has also been approached and could be officially added to the list in the next few days.

Calderon will continue to run the senior national team under the guidance of Best while Darrell will be in charge of the under-23 squad, also under the guidance of Best.

Vance Brown and Furbert will head the women's national team -- an area Best feels is vital since women's soccer is growing steadily worldwide.

Best also said he was "truly excited'' about the school of excellence that will get underway next month. It will be staged at five schools throughout the Island and staffed by coaches and ex-players and will feature children under 12.

The programme will run every Saturday morning.

Best and Beard stressed the importance of getting players and national teams properly qualified for international events in the future, hinting that attempts to continue having squads play in tournaments merely for the sake of competing was no longer acceptable.

Plans are afoot to bring in qualified FIFA and CONCACAF coaches to conduct B level courses on the Island while the BFA will endeavour to have coaches sent abroad to the United States and England. Brazilian coach Marco Falopa, a technical director for CONCACAF, will run a C licence course here on August 29.

"The intention is to eventually send our coaches abroad to enhance their certification afterwards, we simply have to find ways to help the development of the coaches as much as possible,'' said Beard.

The duo said that their new programme was necessary to put into place ideas that were going to benefit all of soccer, not just at the national level.

"If nothing else comes out of the programme the number of boys that are going from Bermuda into college on scholarships is quite phenomenal for the size of the country ... and that's come through people like John Barry Nusum, Damon Ming, Vincent Minors and Joey Rego who are going to play in good colleges,'' said Beard.

The pair also confirmed that they were looking at having a match a month for the senior national squad, hopefully being able to get that programme underway by the end of the year.

"We have already been in touch with professional teams in the United States, national teams in the Caribbean such as Jamaica who are interested, and professional teams in Britain. We are hoping that we can put together a programme that can be an incentive for our senior players,'' said Beard.