When Bermuda Football Association (BFA) announced their controversial decision to push back the start of the youth club season so not to conflict with school football it was met with a resistance to change.

It was a resistance to change from some parents who believed it would create too much idle time on the weekends for their children to find trouble, and a resistance to change from some clubs who thought their players would become discouraged and stop playing the sport.

In short, the BFA restructured the under-16 youth season so it would start in January and therefore not interfere with the school programme which runs from September until December.

Too many youngsters were choosing to play and train for their clubs instead of their schools thus weakening the game at school level, the BFA said.

Youth director Devarr Boyles believes it was unfair on the players who were being told to be play for their schools, and yet at the same time being warned by their clubs that if they did not train they would not be considered for selection.

"There was a bunch of concerns," said Boyles. "Clubs had every right to say 'you don't train, you don't play', so there was always a conflict facing the player and more often than not the club won rather than the school.

"I think the whole problem revolved around games. I think some of the concerns initially from club coaches were that if they didn't provide games then their players' heads may be turned by other activities."

Boyles said a thriving school system was important for the development of the game on the Island.

"The primary level was already good for the most part, the middle school level was a good product but at senior schools there was a big drop off," he said.

"Because of its size, CedarBridge can enter two teams, Berkeley can enter two teams and then you have the private schools Mount Saint Agnes, Warwick and Saltus. Bermuda Institute has also started entering teams.

"If they all enter there's not a problem but if they don't you can end up with just four teams which is not enough for a viable league.

"Then players choose not to play for their schools because the clubs are a more viable option, so less and less players make themselves available to play and it arrests school football.

"In an effort to reverse that change the Bermuda Secondary Sports Federation (BSSF) and the BFA decided to try and support school football."

Now that the club season starts later club coaches have more time to properly coach their players during the off-season rather than just prepare them for games, Boyles said.

"Previously club coaches were running sessions for games, whereas now they have a mini pre-season where they can do so much more from a holistic standpoint.

"In the past the club season and the club started at the same time but now the clubs have a chance to put a few sessions over the weekend from September to December to work on structure and shape.

"In turn the coaches need more information because they are no longer just coaching their players for games and that's part of the reason why we started putting on the 'D' licence coaching courses."

Rather than play home and away matches at the youth club level, games are now being staged at neutral venues at Malabar, Shelley Bay, White Hill and Garrison Field.

Boyles said the move had created "a more carnival atmosphere" and had been popular with parents.

"The atmosphere and climate in the country needed a bit of healing," he said. ". . . now games are played at a neutral venue there's more of a more carnival type atmosphere – it's a nice atmosphere.

"You go to a game and you see three different teams from three different parts of the Island, it's wonderful. The feedback from the parents and players has been good on the whole.

"The pitches are all the same size, the goals are the same size and the officiating is the same."