Being involved in club Under-12 football has enabled me to see first hand how committed the Bermuda Football Association is to their youth programme.Impressive is a word to describe the set-up and organisation of the youth leagues. At the moment BFA youth football is blossoming, having on their registration list close to 90 teams.This is healthy for the future of football as leagues run from Under-8’s right through to Under-16’s with some age groups having clubs with two or three teams because of the abundance and ability of players.Since the beginning of October the BFA have held several practice matches in each age group. The purpose was to gauge the strength of each team and seed them in groups accordingly, thus eliminating one-sided matches.Although these were pre-season practice matches there was always a match official on site to oversee the game and collect team-sheets from both teams.This presence has continued into the official league with the match official also ensuring that games begin on time to keep the flow of the matches following. It is evident that the BFA are actively trying to do their part and are looking for us as coaches to do ours.Coaching youth football can be a bit of a challenge due to short attention spans.As a coach you have to be prepared and keep the training drills interesting. A child can detect when a coach is not organised and will easily switch off and lose interest. There is no lack of resources available to assist in fun drills that focus on the technical aspects of football through both the internet and the BFA themselves. So I encourage coaches to take advantage of the resources available.It has been stated by many that have visited our shores that our young players are some of the most naturally gifted players at this age group.The quality that I see being displayed across the youth leagues is on par with that statement and if we capitalise on this then the future of football is very promising. The BFA deserve a lot of the credit for this through the implementation of their Academy teams.More and more exceptional players are evolving and we have to continue to support the efforts of the BFA with continuity in our coaching.Just two weeks ago St. George’s were fortunate to have two Brazilian coaches on the Island to train all age groups at St. George’s. They were impressed with the Under-8 and Under-10 age groups, indicating that at that age group the boys are right where they should be in terms of their development, once again leaving us with the long unanswered question: What happens between that age and Under-16’s? Why aren’t we on par like we were in the younger age groups? There is definitely a disconnect that we need to figure out.Last but not least is the inclusion and rise of women’s football.Although there is not a female league at that age group, the girls are encouraged to play with the boys and are definitely holding their own and in some case outshine some of the boys. They seem to be there with a purpose in mind and are keen to learn and work hard on the field.Overall, youth football is in a very good place and plays an important part to our future success. With a good youth league structure in place and a good support staff the BFA are on the right track to building a solid foundation for our future.