Kenny Thompson has been described by some as a man of vision.

Certainly he comes armed with a plan -- a blueprint if you will -- aimed at re-establishing soccer as a tool to be used positively in the development of Bermuda's youth.

So deep is his love for the game that the former World Cup player has taken on the challenge single-handedly of pulling soccer out of the doldrums, starting with his own community. He's now offering his services free of charge on a full-time basis at his home club, Somerset Bridge, where he has been named football director.

Thompson has organised several training camps abroad in the Washington DC area and is now anxious to lend his talents to local youngsters.

His first step has been to set up the two-week Mini Kickers Football Camp to be held at White Hill Field, starting on Monday and aimed at a maximum of 20 youngsters between the ages of eight and 10. Beyond that Thompson intends to carry on a Pee-Wee type programme through the soccer season, building towards having the club enter teams in the Bermuda Football Association junior leagues.

"The camp is going to be very basic,'' explained Thompson, who has a degree in physical education from Howard University, is an English Football Association certified instructor and is set to attain US Soccer Federation B certification this month.

"At Somerset Bridge they wanted to get the ball rolling and get some enthusiasm in the area and together we've decided to do a camp with players between the ages of six and 10 years-old.'' The immediate focus of the camp will be coordination and basic decisions made by the players in small-sided matches.

Long term Thompson and the club are looking for it to be an annual event during the summer.

However, the 31-year-old stressed that the camp would not be just about kicking a ball, but about establishing values and pride among the participants, with soccer as the calling card.

"In the entire programme we're not just interested in the development of footballers, we're looking out for the betterment of human beings while using football as a stimulus toward the quality of life enhancement,'' he said.

"That's going to be the overall goal. To enhance and give them pride in what they do and if we can get that across in football it can carry over into everyday life.'' Thompson has long had an eye towards teaching young players and lamented how he has seen the level of play deteriorate at the senior level due to the constant neglect of younger players.

And he noted that too many of the best instructors and coaches on the Island opted to train seniors, rather than put their talents to use among the kids where they were most needed.

"We have to implement the decision-making process at a very young age and that is why we need our most talented instructors at the youth level,'' Thompson explained, "to guide them from the very beginning, because the young player or young person is going to learn either way.

"It's not like if you teach them incorrectly that they're not going to learn it. If you teach them incorrectly that's what they are going to learn and they're going to take that into their senior football -- and that's why we have many of the problems we have now, because many of our more talented instructors or coaches tend to want to coach only in the First Division.'' Bermuda has long been considered by Americans and Canadians as a fertile pool for finding talent and several from the Island have been able to secure scholarships to overseas colleges based on their talent and natural ability, including Thompson.

However, times have changed whereby both the US and Canada have overtaken Bermuda in terms of developing soccer players through solid organisational techniques and proper coaching.

And Bermuda now finds itself looking westward for examples of how to operate youth programmes.

"We have a tremendous amount of gifted athletes from a coordination standpoint. They're very coordinated, they pick things up very fast and with that I'm looking to implement programmes that can take that natural coordination and nurture it and guide it properly and correctly so that we can see a much higher level of football than we're presently witnessing in the Island,'' added Thompson.

"In comparison to, say, the Americans and the work they've done in America, again we're more gifted from a coordination standpoint. However, the Americans have moved way past us because they've been able to take the less gifted individual, teach that individual in the technical sense -- basic fundamental techniques -- and guide the individual in decision making.

"So, as the individual becomes older they are able to overcome, say, Bermuda, because of the mastery of basics and are able to outsmart us as a team and that's where I'm looking to move the game in Bermuda -- towards mastery of basics. With the obvious natural flair that many of our players possess, I just want to give them some guidance in better decision making and knowing where and when to make decisions and maybe when to use some of the natural flair that they have.'' A fee of $50 per week is being charged for the camp, with applications having been accepted up until yesterday. For more information, contact Thompson at 234-2967 or send a fax (234-0760).

Thompson's other venture, the Coca Cola Kenny Thompson Football Classic, got underway this week. Now in its seventh year, the tournament has become a favourite of soccer enthusiasts, drawing large crowds to the west end.

Play involves a round robin with five groups of four teams, 16 going through to the knock-out phase, which culminates with a final scheduled for July 18.