Bermuda needs a better tennis programme if it's ever to make a serious impact in tournaments such as the Davis and Federation Cups.

Coach/captain of the Island's vanquished Federation Cup squad which recently participated in the Americas Qualifying Group Two competition, Kelly Holland, says this is the first step towards being as well prepared as countries like Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.

Bermuda lost four of their five fixtures by 3-0 margins, managing to win just one game in their 2-1 demise to Panama in the tournament held in Cuba last week.

"We need a better tennis structure for our kids - more travel and more playing. Going to the Caribbean all the time is too far away and too expensive," said Holland.

"The ITF Caribbean Zone is something we got into in the last five years and it has been good. We had a tough time this year but I don't necessarily think we should throw in the towel, but we should definitely look at other options to get more exposure for these kids.

"Our teams need to play more tournaments and perhaps more that are more compatible with their level."

She pointed out that while the Federation and Davis Cups are Bermuda's "one overseas tournament" for ladies and men respectively, these two competitions are "just another tournament" for other countries whose players are in tournaments almost on a year-round basis.

To highlight her argument, the coach - herself a former Federation Cup representative - noted there are players whom she has seen rise from being juniors in their teams a few years ago to now being the leading players, while Bermudian players have been not developed at a similar rate.

"Their development has been faster. I remember when I played on the Federation Cup team, the girls now playing for the Dominican Republic were young members of their team and were maybe used once or twice to wet their feet.

"Now they are the top seeds and their improvement is noticeable.

"Event though our girls are playing and practising their learning curve has not been as good."

Holland also lamented the lack of reserves among Bermuda's junior ranks, noting there were four places on this year's team and there were exactly four players from which to chose.

"There's no depth. In most of the other countries there are many players vying for these positions which makes it more competitive. They have to work harder and it's not taken for granted that they will be on the team.

"We have a handful. I don't see a lot of kids coming up so as far as making it competitive, I think we need to have more emphasis at the grass-roots level," she said, adding that "quite often" the development of Bermuda's juniors was hampered by tournament cancellations.

Holland, who will present her suggestions in a post-tour report, believes that any reforms in the Island's tennis structure must take into account the juniors also since the disparity in performance is evident from early.

"The juniors that are 12, 13 and 14 were also outclassed in the Junior Davis and Federation Cup competitions. They did win a few matches and that's good but I don't think they were considered to be a competitive team," she said, alluding to the tournaments that took place in the Dominican Republic recently.

The coach stressed some efforts have been made to improve the Island's tennis standards - and she lauded these - but noted that clearly things are still not "good enough".

Bermuda lost their final round-robin fixture of the Federation Cup to the Dominican Republic on Saturday 3-0.

An injury to the team's No. 1 player, Zara DeSilva, saw Danielle Paynter move into the top slot and Sasha Fisher play the No. 2 singles.

The latter was beaten 6-2, 6-0 by Carla Prieto and Paynter succumbed 6-0, 6-0 to Glenny Cepeda in the No. 1 singles. The two Bermudians then lost their doubles match against Prieto and Yadira Geara and 6-4, 6-0.

Holland said Bermuda failed, once again, to capitalise on good positions which would have allowed them to pressure the opposition.