Two-day etiquette courses, dress codes, harsh suspensions and the expectation of being community role models ? that, hopes David Bascome, will be the reality for 120 professional Bermudian soccer players in the summer of 2007.

The Major Indoor Soccer League veteran launched his Island Soccer League this week, a hugely ambitious attempt to dramatically alter the attitude towards the national sport in Bermuda and provide a backbone of professionalism to help boost the game.

The six-a-side league, to be played at the National Sports Centre, will be run on along the lines of any of the major American sports, with drafts, draft lotteries, play-offs, all-star games and ? this is the hope ? with family-friendly atmospheres and a sanitised version of the game that will see any foul play or misbehaviour on or off the field punished with suspensions and fines.

?Yes, it is an ambitious project,? said the enthused Bascome, who has spent the best part of ten years developing the plan and honing the details.

?We are looking to create an environment where the players are role models, heroes even, and give the next generation of players something to aspire to.

?We want to create a hype about the league in the media and in the community that will be justified by the high-level of entertainment that will be on show for the fans.

?This is an opportunity for Bermuda?s most talented players to entertain in a professional environment and hopefully earn the opportunity to go and play abroad as professionals.?

An integral part of the new league is the scouting aspect which will see representatives from Major League Soccer and the Major Indoor Soccer League as well as European and South American scouts coming to watch the All-star game, which will feature the top 24 players in the ISL.

Eight entirely new clubs are being created to play in the league, with Bascome hoping that individual sponsors will come through and ?adopt? each of the clubs.

One thing he was absolutely sure of, however, is that the clubs competing will not correspond to the domestic sides already competing in the Premier Division.

Three hundred players are eligible to apply for the Superdraft, with 120 to be selected ? 12 players and three alternates ? to play for each of the teams.

?We are attempting to break up the traditional community clubs and create a new environment where players who were traditionally revivals now playing as team-mates,? continued Bascome, who is investing a lot of energy and time into his ?dream?.

?We also have coaches from different teams now coaching players from what would have domestically been rival clubs. These are going to be new clubs playing with fresh approach to the game.?

Eight coaches are to be selected, all accredited, and they will be salaried while the players, in the first year at least, will instead play for prize money, with a minimum of $30,000-$40,000 available for the championship winners, to be split among the players.

Referees in the league will also be paid well, although will be subject to regular assessments and have to pass new fitness and rules tests.

Bascome is hoping to keep the league solely for Bermudian and resident ex-pats although he admitted that in the second and third years he could be tempted to bring in overseas players ? probably just one per team ? to try and raise the profile of the event.

The league is to be financed through both sponsorship and season ticket sales, although general admission tickets will also be available for the matches, to be played on Friday and Saturday nights at the venue on a specially-adapted pitch.

?This is going to be a fast-paced, high-octane league,? said Bascome, a 15-year veteran of the MISL who recently passed the 1,000 point barrier.

?It is going to be professional, entertaining and inspire the next generation of players coming through to aspire to be professionals with all the benefits that brings.

?This is a big thing for Bermuda football, we have the backing of the BFA and we are hoping that the first professional league on the Island can bring wide benefits for the domestic game and bring back the national game to the level it deserves.?

The operational manual, which deals with the intricacies of operating the single-entity league system, has already been written as have all the rules for the matches, to be played over 60 minutes with rolling subs, shoot-outs and blue cards.

The draft order will be decided by lottery with the coaches then picking in rounds, as they do in the major sports leagues in the US, until each have 15 players.

After each year, seven players from each team will remain where they are with the remainder of the players going back into the following year?s draft, with the order for subsequent year being in reserve order of how the teams finish in the league.

Each team will play each other once before going into the play-offs and there will also be an All-star game and, Bascome hopes, a representative game either here or in the US against a MISL select side.