Joe Sutton, Head of Future Pathways at Academia & Football in Britain, has praised Bermuda’s young players for their performances in the Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Qualifier last month.

The former Manchester United and Arsenal academy scout and coach was impressed by the Gombey Warriors’ display throughout the tournament after they finished third in the group on home soil.

“I think from an individual player perspective we have to remember that the player pool that Bermuda has in comparison to Canada, for example, is so significantly different,” Sutton told The Royal Gazette.

“So actually if you look from an objective perspective and have an appreciation and understanding of what each nation has in terms of level of investment – both financially and from a resource and expertise perspective, from a player pool and player development opportunity – a very large portion of that under-17 group were training and playing and living away from Bermuda, meaning that their opportunity to forge a team is very limited, so I was very impressed in my assessment of Bermuda.

“They performed ahead of where I expected, particularly in the Canada game, which is the main benchmark. Albeit the scoreline [7-1 defeat] didn’t reflect that, but I think if you watch the game certainly for the first 60 minutes you would see that Bermuda gave a really good account of themselves and performed very well.”

The Gombey Warriors finished third in group A with two wins and as many losses. Canada topped the five-nation group with a perfect record to secure their spot in the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Qatar in November.

Among the local players who stood out in the tournament was Queens Park Rangers youth player Kalen Brunson, 15, who scored a hat-trick in Bermuda’s 5-0 defeat of Turks & Caicos Islands.

“Kalen rightly got some accolades throughout the tournament based upon his individual performances,” Sutton said.

“He‘s a player that we know very well from working with him at Beechwood School, which is one of the schools within the Academia & Football group

“Kalen joined that school a few years ago and was very much a development player at that point in his journey, looking to rebuild his confidence, refine his best playing position and really refine himself as an individual. The programme has really delivered on its expectations to support Kalen and I think that’s allowed him to flourish at the national-team level.

“He rightly deserved the recognition that he got with some really strong individual performances, and we’re very excited by Kalen from a schooling perspective because academically he’s a really strong student.

“He demonstrates great humility and is well thought of within the programme and across the school. He’s definitely a player that’s developed exponentially under the expert guidance of the coaching staff and Beechwood School.

“We are very happy with how far Kalen has come in the short space of time with us, and it’s really exciting to see him deliver on the national stage for his country.”

Sutton, who served in various capacities at Brighton & Hove Albion and the Football Association, was also able to assess some of the island’s other players during his whirlwind visit.

“I did get the opportunity to observe some of the local fixtures at grass roots level while on the island and again it was reflective of my expectations,” he said. “It was generally a good standard and the passion and desire for football was very noticeable.

“We were very lucky to work with Clyde Best and a local group of coaches who were able to facilitate the talent ID event.

“We were able to get the opportunity to present the school offering to both players and parents and there was a really strong uptake of interest there. We were able to forge strong relationships and have continued ongoing conversations with families who are looking to explore the UK.

“Some have gone to the lengths of conducting visits or taken virtual tours, so there is nice progress being made in that regard and we look forward to continuing that progress and that level of interest is really exciting.”

Academia & Football also runs elite football programmes at Trinity School and Lucton School, with plans to expand to Spain next year.

There are four Bermudians involved in the Elite Football Programme at Beechwood School, among them under-15 national academy midfielder Roman Wilkinson, and three at Trinity School.

All of the programme’s full-time coaching staff are highly qualified and have experience at top professional academies in the Premier League, La Liga and Women’s Super League.