The head of the Bermuda Referees Association reckons that spreading out the domestic schedule would help to take the load off his beleaguered members' shoulders.

Richard Knight was responding to a story in last week's Royal Gazette that revealed how soccer was facing a fresh refereeing crisis with the new season just around the corner.

Despite three meetings, the BRA has been unable to raise a quorum among its members and consequently has not been able to elect any officers.

In addition there has been a poor response to pre-season training with only a handful of officials reporting to sessions at the National Sports Centre during the past week.

With the 2003-2004 less than three weeks away Knight tried to put a brave face on the situation.

"Every year seems to get a little more difficult and I must admit that we are a bit more slower this year than we have been in previous seasons. But I don't think we need to panic," said the president.

"There is no doubt that we will once again be short of numbers. Perhaps we will suggest to the (Bermuda Football Association) that they look at their scheduling and cut down on the number of matches played during a week.

"Doing so would ease up the guys out there who are officiating and stop them from doubling up, from doing three to four matches a week."

Lengthening the season would mean that football ran into the cricket season, but Knight felt the BFA and the Bermuda Cricket Board could sit down and come up with a solution that suited both bodies.

"We are definitely playing too much football," he said. "Having games played on Tuesday nights, Wednesdays nights, Friday and Saturday nights has a negative effect. The referees get tired of officiating the same teams and the players get tired of seeing the same referees."

The immediate problem though is within the BRA and Knight said he was keen to see the AGM held as soon as possible.

"Again, I point out that all of this is not new to us," he said. "But it's getting very late and I am concerned."

Knight questioned the commitment of some officials and said he was finding it increasingly difficult to get new ones to join their ranks.

"The truth of the matter is that we don't have the dedication that we once had and fellows just come out when the season starts. We need them to participate earlier so that we can get important business in place," he said. "We try different methods every year to attract new people but it's not a job that everybody likes. It's a thankless job. It's hard to recruit people so I don't know what to do - maybe somebody else has the answer.

"I don't know if it's because of the state of our football in general or if it's something to do with our Association, but I am anxious to find out why people don't want to donate their time."

Knight did not feel that throwing cash at the problem was the solution as some have suggested.

"Being offered more pay is not the answer," he said. "A lot of guys come to me and the first question they are asking is 'How much does it pay?'. Right off the top of my head I say that is not the type of people we want because a serious person wouldn't make that his priority.

"I think you have to be dedicated and like what you are doing. While a pay increase may help, it's not the main priority."

Despite the headaches, Knight said he believed the new season would kick off as planned.

"Overall, I am still optimistic that we will be able to cope with the domestic schedule," he said. "I think we will find decent numbers and although the few people that we do have will find it tough doubling up, that happens every year. However, they will be ready when the first whistle blows."