Having gone to my first night game of the season to see North Village and Devonshire Cougars at Devonshire Recreation Club last Friday, there was just as much action off the field as on it.

Here I am as a father taking my family to what I thought would be a nice, relaxing atmosphere only to have it spoiled by some off-the-field incidents. Somehow, someway, we must come up with some strategies to reduce and eliminate the fracas that occurs at football games.

There were two scuffles, one during the game and the other right at the end of the game after which Police were called as a matter of safety.

Bermuda Football Association have been doing some wonderful things to enhance their programme and image. However, there is no point in striving towards excellence when there will be no one to showcase it to.

Fans will simply just stop coming to games, which dominoes into no revenue for the BFA, no funding for scholarships, no financial support from Government or the corporate world, and 10 steps backwards towards the ultimate goal of producing high quality footballers to represent football on the world stage.

It is about time that clubs take responsibility to assure that families can come to games and have an enjoyable outing even if it means putting security in place. Personally, looking at the issues we have in Bermuda these days I feel all night games should be policed. Yes, this may be an unbudgeted expense, but it would be worthwhile spending, especially if we are looking to draw bumper crowds.

One recommendation I have for the BFA is to monitor which games throughout the season seem to have the most off-the-field incidents.

Why monitor this one may ask? The data collected should give an indication as to whether or not the unruliness is associated with the fans that follow certain teams or whether it is just a plain and simple Island-wide social issue.

The big question is at night games – who's responsibility is it to ensure security and safety for spectators? If this falls on the clubs then there are ways to counteract this.

We need to start punishing clubs whose fans act unruly. The BFA can put in place a policy that during night games it is mandatory for clubs to have policing.

If a club fails to do this and there are off-the-field incidents then that club can be brought before them. We are looking to eventually take our football to a professional level, right?

I hate to say it but if we have to take drastic steps like they do in Europe to try to negate off-the-field issues then that's what we have to do. As I said, if a club fails to have policing at games and their fans are fighting, then hold that club accountable and make them play their night games behind closed doors (with no fans).

Yes, this may be going overboard and probably financially impossible. But what's more important, money or people safety?

The next step that needs to be taken is that all fields with night games should have cameras to assist clubs and Police to help catch the culprits.

In doing so, once people are recognised as troublemakers, pictures/names of these people should be made public via the newspaper and therefore ban them from all football games. In Bermuda this is easy to monitor because everybody knows everybody.

These steps may seem drastic, but sometimes drastic measures have to be taken to show the seriousness of the matter. Let's not wait until we have a fatality.

Yes, I said it. Too often we wait until the most horrible thing takes place before we step our game up – no pun intended.

The BFA are doing all that they can to revive this sport and whether we want to admit it or not the fans and the players have to do their part to make it all successful.

Two games already this year have been postponed due to rain. If we could become passionate about supporting our club teams then games won't have to be psotponed because of the rain. Fans would come out rain, blow or shine, and the BFA would not have to worry about low gate receipts.

Here is a hypothesis statement for my Whitney students. "When football games are played at night, more fights break out." What can we do to prove or disprove this statement? If this is true, we may have to eliminate night games altogether. Yes, it may be demanding on officials on a Sunday, but we have to do whatever it takes to ensure safety.

This article may come across as negative, but it is essential we start forward thinking and planning. We have to be proactive not reactive. What are we waiting for – someone to die or get seriously injured before we put things in place?

Bermuda, it is our responsibility to make this country a better place to live in. Football and other sports are being hampered by off-the-field incidents. We have to start loving each other and doing a better job of instilling good morals and values into our children.

Quote for the week: "We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God" – Thomas Merton