Top coach Andrew Bascome believes football can be an important key in solving some of the community conflicts that exist within the Island’s younger generation.Bascome’s ABC Football School held a Next Generation Valencia CF camp for public school children at the Victor Scott Primary School last week.More than 70 youngsters, aged between 7-11, attended the free of charge coaching clinic where Bascome and Valencia coaches David Sanzs and Magro Oliva put them through their paces.Bascome, who also coaches Premier Division side Robin Hood, believes the camp helped bridge the gap between youngsters who wouldn’t normally socialise with each other outside of the sport.“It was a great week for both the players and the coaches, we have had children from all parts of the community.“There’s a lot of talent in this country and we just want to show them the finer details of the game,” said Bascome, who grew up as an orphan in the Sunshine League“It’s important to have the youngsters meet each other in a good environment. Most of them would never meet in any other situations outside of football so it’s pleasing to see them all getting along and learning the game.“The true purpose of the camp is to have the players learn to be around people that they aren’t around in their day-to-day lives.“We have seen a difference in the children’s passion for the game because they want to play.”Bascome is adamant there is plenty of talent on the Island but believes young players must be willing to listen and learn in order to continue their development.He also reckons football can help ‘at risk’ youngsters grow off the pitch and avoid some of the gang-related pitfalls plaguing the Island.“The talent base in Bermuda has always been there but our players need to learn more about decision-making on the field,” said the ex-Bermuda international.“A lot of this has to do with the training sessions they are exposed to as well.“A kid has to learn from a young age the rights and wrongs and that’s the same in football“If they can do this when they’re young then it makes it easier for them later in life and if they play in a bigger arena.“As coaches we need to be structured and disciplined and that will wear off on the children.“We can’t just take advantage of their talent, we have to show them different ways of doing things to get the required result.“It’s a whole different level of play as you get older and if you haven’t been taught how to adapt and make decisions then it makes it difficult for them to progress.”ABC Football School, in conjunction, with Valencia CF, have been holding a season-long academy at Saltus since September as part of a three-year deal.