is learning that success in World Cup competition carries a huge price tag.

Bermuda's minnow status in world soccer is made clearly evident by the fact that we cannot come to an agreement on how the players are to be prepared for the second round, which starts a month today.

There are contrasting views on what our priorities are for 1992-93 -- domestic or international soccer.

Though the BFA has not officially notified the public, it is a well-known fact that a training camp has been proposed for the national team -- the most likely venue being Warwick Camp.

The idea was for a group of up to 18 players to eat, drink and sleep soccer from October 5 until the second round is completed on December 6.

But there are two problems: 1. the players want compensation for time away from work; and 2. the BFA does not want the players to represent their local clubs during that time period.

In every argument there are pros and cons. While the BFA has been forwardly mobile throughout this campaign, it looks like fighting a losing battle on both counts.

The first is cut and dry. Even during the best of times, sport has been known to take second place in this country as far as financing is concerned. With that being the case, it is highly unlikely that today's employers will surrender 10 weeks' paid leave. And then there are the self-employed among the players that also have to be considered.

The idea of completely isolating the players will cause more problems, if only because the argument will last a lot longer.

PHC's coach Jack Castle this week went on record as saying he is against the BFA keeping the `Island's best players from their clubs if they are available'.

What needs to be noted is that from the week leading up to the first away match against El Salvador on November 1 until the third match against Canada on the 15th, the players will be unavailable anyway.

So, what we are really talking about is the first month of the season and the three weeks between November 15 and December 6.

What the BFA is asking is not totally unreasonable -- maybe a little too much, but not unreasonable.

The national squad players should be allowed to start the season with their clubs and then be on call for Bermuda in time for the first match. From there, the focus should be rightly on international duty.

Asking amateur players to represent their country on a Sunday afternoon in the World Cup, their club in the Martonmere Cup in midweek and their country again the following Sunday is outrageous.

The BFA would be asking for trouble if it gives in to the clubs on that account. After all, is there really a comparison between the World Cup and the Martonmere Cup -- is there? The clubs that may be hardest hit by the loss of national team players are PHC, Dandy Town, North Village and Boulevard, all of whom claim to have depth.

This is the time to prove it when they are likely to be minus no more than four players from a roster that at this time of the season should be above 25.

Soccer is not alone with this problem. Cricket administrators have had headaches in the past with those who have ridiculously placed Cup Match and international duty on the same sphere -- it's a Bermudian thing.

Hopefully, enough of the 4,000 people who wildly rooted for Bermuda in the last World Cup match support local clubs and can help them see the light.

Through all this the BFA can be faulted for short-sightedness. Once it was decided that Bermuda was going to compete, plans needed to be made well down the road.

The draw for our region was made last December and while Haiti and Antigua were not considered pushovers, Bermuda's progression was not a major surprise -- at least not here.

Lack of foresight means that the domestic schedule has not yet been worked out to accommodate World Cup fixtures -- thus we will not have a BFA fixtures booklet for the first time since its inception.

The ideal thing to do would be to suspend one of the minor competitions for a year, but that would mean a loss of much-needed revenue, especially in the early part of the season when soccer-hungry fans flock to the venues.

So, we are instead faced with the probability that the BFA will schedule a glut of fixtures to make up for the three Sundays lost to the World Cup.

Someone said the other day that form is temporary, class is forever. The classy thing for the clubs to do is bite the bullet, be happy for their international players and welcome them back with no acrimony when it is all over.

And if we are really serious about the World Cup, the BFA braintrust should be now thinking ahead to the third round -- what will be needed to get there, and beyond.