mark on international scene By Nicole Williams Smith Bermuda intends to `shoot' its way, up the international football ranks.

For the Bermuda Football Association has embarked on an aggressive plan to enhance the Island's global football standing. And ultimately qualify for the World Cup finals.

"Our main goal for the national team is to play as many international games as possible,'' said BFA spokesperson Corey Butterfield.

At the moment Bermuda has 133 points and are currently ranked 164th in the world rankings. Last month, the Island was ranked 165th and in December 1998 topped out at 185th.

"Bermuda has advanced an admirable 21 points between December 1998 and September 1999,'' Mr. Butterfield pointed out. "Our FIFA ranking shows us at 164, which is not very good. The irony is that we have a team of exceptional calibre and we are hindered because our team does not play in any games.

"We just completed a two-leg international friendly with the Cayman Islands, who are ranked 148 in the world, yet we beat them quite handsomely. Their ranking is 16 points higher because they play more games than we do.'' Mr. Butterfield said the Island's effort to climb up the global football ladder was hampered by a lack of funds.

"The BFA is caught in a vicious circle regarding football in Bermuda,'' he said. "We do not play enough games because we do not have the funds to travel as often as we would like, so we cannot get to expose our players to the global football arena.'' He added: Since we cannot get the experience, our advancement is slow and strenuous. But we can see from our FIFA statistics that when we do play we are successful.'' However, Mr. Butterfield said there was a simple solution to the national team's dilemma -- grassroots support for the game.

"There is a simple equation -- more support equals more funding, more funding equals more competition and more competition equals more success,'' he explained. "We need everyone to support local football, not just the national team. Since our players come from the domestic league, clubs also need more support from the fans.

"To progress 21 points in less than one year is a phenomenal accomplishment, but think where we could be if we played more games.'' When you factor in Bermuda's size and population, the Island has produced some terrific football results.

Here is a brief look at Bermuda's football presence on the world stage: Outside our friendly shores, Bermuda plays in the CONCACAF league against teams from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Over the years, Bermuda has produced some outstanding players who have played on the world stage, like Clyde Best who played in England for eight years and Randy Horton who played in the US for several years. The last few years have seen several Bermudians playing professionally abroad -- Shawn Goater and Kyle Lightbourne in England and David Bascome and Paul Cann in the US; and As in the US, women's football is growing at a rapid rate, especially among young players. The Rude Girls, who dominate the local women's league (they recently won the Women's Charity Cup in the season opener at BAA) recently completed an American tour.

According to Mr. Butterfield, if Bermuda is to boost its standing on the world football stage, it will take an Island-wide effort, starting from the grassroots.

The easiest way to make a contribution is to go out and support the local players in their divisional games.

The local football scene is comprised of three divisions -- the first, second and commercial divisions. Here is a list of the First Division teams (in alphabetic order): Boulevard: Team colours red, green and gold, a.k.a as the Boulevard Blazers; Dandy Town: Team colours are brown and yellow, a.k.a the Dandy Town Hornets; Devonshire Colts: Team colours are orange and white; North Village: Team colours are red and white, a.k.a the North Village Red Devils; PHC (Pembroke Hamilton Club): Team colours are black and white, a.k.a the PHC Zebras; Somerset Trojans: Team colours are red and black; Southampton Rangers: Team colours are blue and white; St. David's: Team colours are yellow/gold and blue, a.k.a the St. David's Islanders; Vasco: Team colours are blue and white, a.k.a the Vasco Volcanoes; and Wolves: Team colour is yellow and black, a.k.a the Wolf Pack.