HOSTING international sporting events is nothing new to Bermuda. We?ve been doing it, and doing it successfully for countless years.

Yet it?s difficult to remember the last time back to back weeks have been consumed by events of such magnitude as the Virtual Spectator Squash Masters and the XL Capital Open tennis tournament which, during this fortnight in April, bring to the Island some of the world?s elite in those respective sports.

And, overlapping as the two do, is significant in there finally seems to be a realisation and acceptance that Bermuda cannot only match any other country in the world in putting on these types of spectacles but can be at the forefront of international sport.

For obvious reasons the Island can never hope to host huge spectator events such as a World Cup, Olympic or Commonwealth Games, but there?s a niche in the sporting calendar which certainly can be further explored and exploited.

Talk to any of those ? players, officials and spectators ? who have visited for the likes of the World Rugby Classic, sailing?s Gold Cup, the now defunct Merrill Lynch Golf Shoot-out and Gillette Challenge, and there?s a genuine consensus that Bermuda as a destination is far more exciting and attractive than most other stops on sports? respective tours.

However, it isn?t just the Island?s natural beauty that has helped mould that opinion.

Generally, all of the events mentioned above and others have earned a reputation for being well organised and highly competitive but at the same time played out amidst a friendly atmosphere which allows athletes to relax more than they perhaps would at the hustle and bustle of other venues.

Tourism Minister Ewart Brown was at the opening of the Bermuda Masters this week and got the message loud and clear from ?Voice of Squash? Robert Edwards, whose gushing endorsement of Bermuda as host country for this event and the even more prestigious World Open in two years? time can have left him in no doubt about the Island?s popularity.

How we capitalise on that popularity remains to be seen.

But nobody should be in any doubt that this tiny island has a great deal more to offer than many of the huge American, Asian and European cities where we see major events unfold on TV every week of the year.

The logistics of putting on such events might not always make them manageable but nobody should doubt Bermuda?s capability.

With a little more vision we could do an awful lot more.

POSSIBLY due to this week?s squash tournament, an accomplishment by our own young competitors went largely unnoticed.

For the third straight year a team of Optimist sailors made the long haul down to South America ? and returned with the top prize, the Nations Cup.

Once again they not only beat but virtually destroyed teams from the likes of Argentina, USA, Uruguay, Mexico and Chile ? in fact, 13 countries in all.

And to rub salt in their rivals? wounds they placed a second team on the podium, taking first and third overall.

It was another terrific performance from a bunch of teenagers who seem to be telling Peter Bromby that when he eventually calls it a day there?ll be no shortage of candidates to fill his shoes.