Last season's experiences taught Bermuda Hogges how vitally important it is to get off to a good start in the USL-D2.

Posting points on the board early on is of the utmost importance.

But our job hasn't been made any easier with the FA Cup semi-finals and final clashing with our first two matches of the campaign.

It's a hindrance to our plans and I'm very disappointed about it.

I'm not quite sure why the domestic season has had to extend into the end of April and we certainly didn't envisage it.

Nothing can be done about it now, but we really need to sit down and have discussions with the Bermuda Football Association (BFA) to prevent this happening in the future.

After all the Hogges benefit local football and ideally we would like to have our players to ourselves for at least two weeks training before the USL-D2 season starts.

The extra-long season is sure to have taken its toll on some of the players and I know Kyle (Lightbourne) was concerned about fatigue affecting some of his PHC guys.

It's not an ideal situation and potentially a third of our squad could be involved in domestic football right up until the FA Cup final on April 27.

Our season starts on April 19 away at Charlotte Eagles and it's likely a number of our key players will not be able to figure with the FA Cup semi-finals scheduled for April 20.

Our second match against Wilmington Hammerheads at the National Sports Centre, on April 26, will also be affected but we will just have to cope the best we can.

Obviously Hogges coach Kyle has a duty to PHC as well as the Hogges. Kyle and his players have worked hard this season and PHC's good results have reflected that.

There's every chance Omar Shakir and Kevin Richards will be involved right up until the FA Cup final.

They are also very important players for the Hogges and players we would ideally want to be involved.

As for Kyle, the fixture backlog will not affect his role with the Hogges.

However PHC's season pans out he'll still be involved in our first two games, even if he has to fly out to the US after the rest of the squad.

The problem surrounds those players who will be involved in the FA Cup. We don't want to interfere with the players' final games of the season and we would never ask a player not to play in an important match for his club.

The decision will be left in their hands and they will have to weigh up the situation.

At the moment many of our players areconcentrating on the World Cup qualifying second leg with Cayman Islands, and we want to get that out of the way before we get the Hogges players together for training.

We already know the roster and there will be a few changes as we look to build on last season.

It should be a very exciting campaign for us.