On Monday, March 23rd, the Association held a Special Congress Meeting to discuss and decide upon the future of domestic football in order to meet the goals and objectives as contained in our Strategic Plan “Rebuilding the Competitiveness of Bermuda Football.”
Before arriving at the position in which our Clubs were asked to make their decision, it is important to point out some strategic steps that took place along the way:
1. The plan to restructure our leagues was discussed at great length with a number of current coaches, ex-coaches, current and past administrators in football at both the club and National level.
2. Recommendations emanating from these discussions where further discussed within the BFA’s former Technical and Leagues and Competitions Committees.
3. The Technical Director, who we hired to provide direction in these types of football matters reviewed the recommendations and applied his understanding of the current structure and arrived at a position paper on how best to proceed. The position paper was further discussed within the now Player Development Committee level and then subsequently approved after much discussions by the BFA Executive Council.
4. The strategic components of this restructuring plan were submitted to and ratified by our Full Member Clubs during a Special Congress Meeting in December 2008 when we presented our entire Strategic Plan.
5. The specific and detailed Domestic League Restructuring plan was subsequently presented to the Full member Clubs at the reconvened Semi Annual Congress Meeting in February and was further presented to the Technical Directors and / or senior football coach(s) of our clubs. Thereafter, the Clubs were given the opportunity to provide written submissions, which were then discussed further by the BFA Executive Council.
6. Finally, at the Special Congress Meeting on Monday and prior to a decision taken by the Clubs, our Technical Director provided a short presentation addressing the areas of concern, which focused on where our football product is today, provided examples of best practices in established football countries and compared what we know, is the best way forward.
It is also important to point out that included in this process was a presentation to the sports media in order to provide you with a comprehensive look at why we believe the Strategic Plan for “Rebuilding the Competitiveness of Bermuda Football” is so vitally important to the future of our sport.
As a result of the above, the Executive Council and on behalf of the Full Member Clubs of the Bermuda Football Association as was decided at the Special Congress Meeting on Monday, March 25th have decided to restructure our domestic leagues program as
follows:
· To increase the number of teams in the First Division to a maximum of 12 teams depending on suitable applications beginning the 2009 – 2010 football season
· To implement a U-23 Developmental League for those players between the ages of 17 and 23 as of January 1st in the same year as the start of the new season and commencing the 2009 – 2010 football season. The Developmental League will also allow up to 3 over aged players to be rostered for any given match.
· To implement a Masters Division for players over the age of 30 as of January 1st in the same year as the start of the new season and commencing the 2009 – 2010 football season.
· To implement the following youth structure whereby players will train 2 times a week with their school and play within the BSSF games program from September thru December with clubs conducting one training session during the week and a second training session on Saturday mornings from September thru December. From January thru April, there will be NO schools football and the BFA will run two leagues for U7, U9, and U11 on Saturdays according to the established regulations. Clubs will also be free to train 2 times a week starting January 1st with the above changes commencing with the start of the 2009 – 2010 football season
· To implement the following youth structure whereby players will train 2 times a week with their a school and play within the BSSF games program from September thru December with clubs conducting one training session during the week. The BFA will organize a games program on Saturday mornings from September thru December to assess the quality of teams participating in the Program. From January thru April, there will be NO schools football and the BFA will run two leagues for U13 and U16 that will enable teams to compete against the appropriate opposition. Clubs will also be free to train 2 times a week starting January 1st with the above changes commencing with the start of the 2009 – 2010 football season
With regards to the Master’s Division, the Executive Council has agreed to hold a meeting with all Commercial Division teams to discuss with them the impact of this decision on teams with player under the age of 30 years old. In short and without going into details, we know the concerns and we will seek to provide answer for those clubs / players as to where they can find a place to play football within our new structure.
