Dear Sir,

I feel compelled to address the letter submitted under the pen name John “Love the Game” that appeared in this section of the Friday, 23rd of February, 2007 edition of RG.

First and foremost I find it surprising that someone would deem it necessary to demean the accomplishments of the local teams in the recently concluded Clyde Best Invitational Youth Football Tournament by suggesting that the level of competition was a major reason for their success.

And while the level of some of the visiting teams wasn’t quite what one would have wanted, in general, most were of a good quality. That being said let me address each position taken by John with a statement of fact:

The rankings that John refers to are compiled by a soccer DAD! A better way would be to use state rankings. Not my words, but those of coaches in the know. They went on to say that rankings of youth teams in the United States are heavily influenced by the number of tournaments that a team enters.

2) Under-13 OBGC Rangers are indeed ranked nine nationally and were Region One champions.

3) Under-13 Commack were New York State semi-finalists and came with several Super-Y League players. And for those of you that don’t know, the Super-Y League is the top national youth league in the United States.

4) Under-13 West Virginia were state champions in West Virginia.

5) Under-14 Berks SA did not place well in the US rankings, but included five of their Super Y League players. Again the Super Y League is the top youth league in the US and were the top five percent of America’s youth compete on a national basis. A better evaluation of this group would be to look at their Super Y league teams.

6) Ubder-14 Commack were New York State quarter-finalists and again came with several Super Y League players

7) Under-14 Connecticut/Ct-ODP no. 1 had one US national squad player and two regional team players (best in the region)

8) UNDER-14 Ct-ODP no. 2 team had one regional team player (see above).

Note: ODP stands for Olympic Development Programme and is where the top players in each state train and develop with a view to being selected for the United States national teams. Simply put, they are the best in each state.

9) Under-15 Lower Merion Velez were Pennsylvania State semi-finalists in 2006 and 2006 regional champions. It should be noted that this team beat several quality English youth teams last summer, including one in the EPL.

10) Hockessin were state champions in Delaware.

11) Under-15 Ct-ODP came with three regional players (top in region).

In the end, the Clyde Best Invitational was a first-year event and no one from the United States had a clue what to expect from local teams.

All left with a healthy respect for our ability at this age level and the organisers are already taking calls from very good teams interested in participating in 2008.

It is also important to remember that unlike the ODP teams who have a full schedule of games each year, the Bermudian national youth teams don’t play very many. In fact, for most of these players this was the first time playing in a competition as a team.

Congrats Bermuda and yes, “Love The Game”.

RICHARD CALDERON

The BFF