Former national youth coach Jack Castle is urging Bermuda Football Association (BFA) not to jettison their youth programmes just because they cannot train at the National Sports Centre (NSC).

Noting it is crucial that football?s national governing body hold fast to their blueprint for long-term development, the man previously in charge of the national Under-16 and Under-20 squads stressed the habit of assembling and disbanding teams according to international commitments was a disservice to Bermuda?s football development and was well outdated.

?We are doing pretty much what we were doing in the 1970s, putting together teams for three months prior to a commitment and once we?re knocked out disbanding the team,? said Castle.

?As a coach, who has strong interest for youth football, I think the BFA has to come up with an alternative (for training) rather than putting the blame on not being able to train at the National Sports Centre.

?One of the reasons football is in the state that it is, is the administration doesn?t have viable answers and if we have committed these young men to training for the World Cup, don?t let the NSC be the reason for scrapping the programme.?

Castle suggested the latest impasse between the BFA and the NSC?s Board of Trustees had given the BFA ?an easy way out? of their youth World Cup commitments given the late stage at which squads were being put together for qualifiers in August.

?For some time, as early as last year when the senior national team was being put together, we knew we had Under-17 and Under-20 qualifiers coming up and we failed to put together these teams back in October and start training when the senior national team started,? he pointed out, saying it?s this kind of situation that?s preventing Bermuda from progressing in football.

Meanwhile, responding to queries about why Under-17 and Under-20 training cannot take place elsewhere, BFA Technical Director Kenny Thompson reiterated his point that the quality of the playing surface was vital.

?The quality of the pitch is critical in the players? technical development. If the pitch is uneven then players will struggle technically in controlling the ball. If a player has to spend so much time on how to control the ball then there is no time for decision-making, thinking about what they are going to do next.

?In the modern game which is high pressure and requires technical excellence in small spaces, which requires a high level of football intelligence and insight and mental alertness, if the pitch is not of a high quality then the players cannot demonstrate high-quality technique and tactical thinking.

?If they prepare on an uneven pitch and then have to play on smooth, even surfaces they don?t have the alertness or the confidence to give a high-quality performance,? he reasoned.

Thompson noted that were Bermuda a country where the best pitch was comparable to Bernard Park then that?s where national squads would expect to train but that is not the case.

?We have the NSC and our national teams are unable to play there,? he said.

Reacting to queries as to why he had scheduled more than 40 training sessions for the youth squads between June and July, he replied: ?Why do we have so many people in our country who expect success from minimal preparation. Maybe the problem is that some of the people who are making the decisions were grassroots competitors at best and have no idea what it takes to be a top athlete.

?Do you think the top performances by the Jamaicans at the Carifta Games were the result of only a handful of training sessions? Or that the performances by our top Bermuda athletes were the result of minimal preparation??

BFA General Secretary David Sabir refused comment on the organisation?s next move, declining to say if terminating training for the youth World Cup squads meant Bermuda would not participate in those tournaments.