at all levels, renewing affiliation with the Caribbean Football Union and the rehiring of a full-time Director of Coaching.

Outgoing chairman of the Bermuda Football Association's coaching committee Johnny Nusum is also calling for relationships with the new soccer league in United States, having all certified coaches take refresher courses every four years and assisting the further delopment of women's soccer by holding local clinics.

Whether Nusum's recommendations will be adhered to remains to be seen, but the BFA and club affiliates were made aware of his concerns when presented with the coaching report at the recent annual general meeting.

Yesterday Nusum, who has resigned to become Director of Coaching with PHC, stood firmly behind his recommendations and reckoned that the BFA should implement as many as possible for soccer to prosper.

"I believe this is the way the BFA should go ... We have got to look towards getting a senior programme back on trek,'' he said.

"It's okay to concentrate on building with various junior programmes and work towards restoring the confidence of the general public and business sector as far as soccer is concerned. But the senior programme is the area where our more developed players should have targets to strive for''.

Nusum says re-establishing affiliation with the Caribbean Football Union will give the senior national squad an opportunity to play against teams similar to Bermuda's style and strength.

The Director of Coaching was also a necessity because the present situation of primarily depending on volunteer coaches is simply not the answer, claimed Nusum.

"I think the guys we now have filling in as coaches at the national level will continue to help like this, which is fine itself. But we need somebody to oversee the whole programme who can go into the schools,'' he said.

"He doesn't need to a coach but more of a director to concentrate on development and to work along with the national coaches. He definitely needs to be full time as opposed to working in his spare time, it's something that cannot and should not be attempted to be done in a piecemeal manner.'' Several of Nusum's recommendations to the BFA were listed in his annual report which was circulated to affiliates at the AGM.

He wrote that his committee was pleased to have "initiated talks'' with the CFU as it will hopefully enable the BFA to re-enter the Shell Caribbean Tournament.

"With a connection such as this we can look forward to international football at all levels, and it also opens the possibility for board representation for our local administrators. Not only will our players have something to strive for, but our administrators will as well''.

The report also pointed out the advantage of exploring attempts to create ties with the Major League Soccer in the US.

"Bermuda can be used as a training site for these teams and obviously provide opposition while the teams are here. There would also be a chance that a local player may be spotted and have an opportunity to be invited to train with one of the teams,'' wrote Nusum.

Also in Nusum's report was the recommendations that coaches should be encouraged by their respective clubs to improve their coaching skills and should ensure that they attend as many courses, seminars and lectures provided by the BFA and that instructors should also seek to keep abreast of the latest techniques in conducting courses.