IF Kyle Lightbourne didn?t realise the enormity of his task when he succeeded Kenny Thompson as national football coach over a year ago, then the frustrations of the job will surely have taken a firm grip in the months that have passed since.

Last weekend?s 3-0 loss to the visiting New England Revolution represented a seventh straight loss ? a record not altogether unlike that of our national cricket team ? and the sad part about this dismal string of results is that no one is in the least surprised.

We don?t hear anyone calling for Lightbourne?s resignation. And why should they?

Given the circumstances, it?s difficult to imagine anyone else at the helm doing any better.

With a smattering of professionals at his disposal, rarely available all at the same time, and amateur players whose bread and butter football unfolds on uneven, messy pitches on a Sunday afternoon in a league in which standards have shown little improvement in the last decade, his options are limited.

Add to that a disjointed programme which sees the national team idle for months on end, and it?s not difficult to see where the problems lie.

Solving them, however, is an entirely different matter.

While former professional and technical director Clyde Best has been highly critical of the administration in the last week, he must appreciate there are no easy solutions to the quagmire in which local football finds itself mired.

Bermuda?s geographical isolation always means that both incoming and outgoing tours come with a high price tag ? one which a cash-strapped Bermuda Football Association can?t always meet.

Putting together an international programme which would allow Bermuda to be competitive even with our Caribbean neighbours has always fallen beyond the limited financial resources available.

World Cup qualifying years aside, the national team schedule is often hit and miss ? heavily dependent on visits from the likes of New England and Manchester City?s Youth Academy, or teams brought in by Best?s group, Setplay, who, quite frankly, can gain little from taking on local opposition.

What everyone seems to agree upon is that local football can only get better if we play more international matches and more of our players are exposed to a higher standard as has been the case with Khano Smith since he joined the Revs.

How we achieve those goals is for those at the BFA to determine and it?s difficult not to sympathise with their plight.

But it?s a sad fact that if we continue with the current programme, we?re going nowhere.

Somehow the resources have to be found to give Lightbourne at least a fighting chance of producing a national side which would accurately reflect the not inconsiderable talent available at his disposal.

BFA chief Larry Mussenden says his organisation are in the ?final stages of putting together a long-term strategy plan for the future of Bermuda football?.

Let?s hope such a plan comes to fruition. Because over the past 30 years, that line has been trotted out by a succession of BFA presidents and we?re still waiting for the plan to become reality.

At very least our national squad have to be kept active, training and, if necessary, playing against local club sides on a regular basis.

Cobbling together a team every few months whenever the prospect of playing outside opposition arises ? as has been the case so often in our history ? is of no benefit whatsoever.

Continuity is the key. And until we get it, by whatever means necessary, success even at a regional level will remain a distant dream.

IF some might consider the BFA programme virtually dormant, it?s difficult to imagine what words they?d use to describe that of Bermuda Track and Field Association.

Anybody involved with the various athletic clubs ? Pacers, Flyers, Striders etc. ? would be quick to tell you that Bermuda, as it has for many years, still harbours an abundance of youth talent.

But when it comes to the national programme those youngsters are nowhere to be found.

Last weekend saw two trial meets for the Carifta Games ? just over a month away ? but the pitiful entry resulted in no more than one or two athletes in any of the races. Events in which Bermuda once excelled, 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres, saw no more than two or three of the lanes occupied.

Dozens of young runners compete in the Front Street Mile trials, hundreds enter the KPMG junior running series, most of whom will also be on hand for tomorrow?s hugely popular Telford Electric Mile.

Yet when it comes to the meets that matter they disappear.

Perhaps our national track coach could offer an explanation.