Cal Blankendal considers the national academy the blueprint for success after seeing Bermuda Under-20s win an army of admirers at their recent World Cup qualifiers.The Bermuda Football Association vice-president saw surefire signs of football on the Island moving in the right direction even though the side failed to reach the next stage of the competition in Suriname.Blankendal said the Under-20s played some of the best “team football” he had seen from a Bermuda side for several years and believes the Island is beginning to reap the reward of having a full-time academy in place.“We didn’t achieve our main objective but we did successfully impose a Bermudian style of play on the opposition. I felt we played the better football in all three games,” he said.“I was interested to see whether having players train regularly at the national academy was having some benefit, and from what I saw it’s really beginning to pay off.“It’s not often Bermuda go overseas and control international matches for long spells.“We managed to do that in all three games and if we hadn’t shown a lack of concentration at times (against Curacao and Suriname) I think we would have won all of them.”Blankendal, Dandy Town’s director of football, travelled with the Under-20s as the head of delegation and said the team’s organised style of play and off-the-pitch professionalism became a hot topic among the opposing coaches.From eating properly before matches to post match recovery techniques, Bermuda were ahead of the game according to Blankendal, who praised team physio Craig Brown for his valuable contribution during their ten-day trip.“The other teams were very keen to learn from our coaching staff which shows they’re doing something right,” he said. “I saw the other nations start copying our team’s diet and recovery sessions put on by Craig Brown who did a great job. Several professional Suriname coaches came to see our training sessions to pick the brains of Derek Broadley and Devarr Boyles after being impressed with our team concept style of play.“On the day we were leaving, Devarr actually received a call at one o’clock in the morning from a Guyana coach wanting to find out more about our coaching methods.”On the downside, Blankendal reckoned there were at least three Premier Division youngsters who could have helped Bermuda over the finishing line had they made themselves available.He suspected that a few of the domestic clubs did not actively encourage their best youngsters to join the national academy and has urged them to change their mindset.“The boys who played in Suriname can hold their heads up high. They mirrored the style of football all our academy teams try and play and came very close to qualifying.“Moving forward I think the BFA and the clubs have to encourage their best players to play for the academy,” he said. “We need to get the best players playing for Bermuda.“Just playing club football is not good enough.“I know some players don’t get on with certain coaches but we really have to start putting all that stuff to one side.“There were at least three players who are playing very well in the Premier Division who could have really helped us qualify.”Blankendal also feels it’s important the academy continues to have a team in each birth year so that each national side is made up of players of an appropriate age.“We had to include a number of 17-year-olds who all did very well but the other nations were mainly made up of 19-year-olds,” he said.“In these competitions you need players who are close to the required age group. Physically and mentally it does leave you at a disadvantage.”Several of Bermuda’s team gained valuable experience of overseas football for the Bermuda Hogges in the Premier Development League (PDL) last summer, which Blankendal also believes is an important building block for player development.”“I think the national academy, the Bermuda Hogges and more international games are all critical for the improvement of Bermuda football.“It was no coincidence that a lot of our leaders in Suriname were players like Tahj Bell, Reiko Trott, Roger Lee, Troy Tucker and Quadir Maynard who all played for the Hogges last summer.”Bermuda missed out on reaching the Concacaf Championships which will be held in Guatemala later this year after finishing second in their Group E qualifiers. They beat Guyana 3-0 before losing 2-1 to both Curacao and hosts Suriname.In the previous round they failed to claim the automatic qualifying spot despite finishing the campaign unbeaten. They defeated Antigua and Barbuda and drew with hosts Guadeloupe who went through to the Championships on goal difference.