Last weekend was a long one with the Baltimore Blast playing two crucial games as well as the promotion of the ISL/Hope4Life All-Star Weekend which will be held in Bermuda.

It all started on Friday night when the team had stepped out on the field against Philadelphia Kixx.

This was a game that we had to win as we are not in the play-offs yet.

The game started with great intensity with pressure from both sides, Philadelphia came out strong with a response to our early goal.

They continued to apply pressure but we started to get control of the game in the second quarter and ended up winning the game 12-8.

We came back to play against Monterrey on the second night to seal the deal 12-11.

We now sit in second place in the standings with 10 wins and seven loses and with three games left in the regular season.

Two of those games are this weekend.

As for the promotion night for the ISL/Hope4Life in Philadephia; well let's say I am expecting to have many soccer fans coming to Bermuda between July 16-19. Having the legends of sports at the game will help plenty and with the help of Donna Douglas from Bermuda tourism it should make things run very smooth.

The ISL Head of Soccer Operations and Field Operator were also in attendance to help spread the awareness about the league and Hope4Life.

The ISL/Hope4Life 2010 season will be starting on May 21 and the Draft will be on April 16.

Coaches for the league have been called and are ready to start the new season.

In next week's column I will be releasing all the details about the season, draft and timeline for the ISL/Hope4Life.

The one new venture that ISL has taken on is an ISL/netball tournament which will be held in September, with the blessing of the Bermuda Netball Association.

The tournament will be set up just like the ISL Soccer.

The players will go through try-outs and their draft will be the same as the ISL soccer players which will be held at the Grotto Bay Hotel.

My reason for moving in this direction is to help revive their game and also work with the association to create an environment that will give the players a greater incentive to play the sport and create role models for our young females.

I feel this is key as I always said we must focus more than we have on women's sports.

The ISL/Hope4Life netball tournament will have the same eight teams as the ISL soccer.

I realise I need to understand more about the sport so for this I am looking to travel to Barbados to see their netball under-16 national team play in April.

This will give me a good chance to get to understand the game and meet the young players and gather information which will help us grow the sport.

After talking with the netball president I must say she has great passion for her sport and wants the best for the players.

This tournament will see many of our players returning to the game.

Part of the Hope4Life mission is to bring the sporting associations and the community programmes together.

This netball venture will be a great start in helping Hope4Life create heroes and give them strong voices in our community.

Until next time!