Apparently my comments a couple of weeks ago about the Bermuda national team playing in the NatWest Island Games touched a nerve with some people in football.I had stated that playing against weaker opposition in the Island Games was not what the national team needs, which I understand did not go down too well.I don’t know who the individuals were because they didn’t tell me. I don’t know what their concerns were but I can only tell the truth as I see it and anybody who knows football would probably say the same things that I said.I wasn’t knocking any one individual and don’t have anything against the Games being in Bermuda. I think it was a great idea and that we need to do more stuff like that to attract more tourists so that the whole country benefits.But when you look at competition and regardless what it is . . . volleyball, netball . . . if you want to improve then you have to play the best.You can’t improve by playing against lesser opposition and that’s all I was saying and I do stand by what I said.If you go around Bermuda and ask anybody in football and cricket, they will tell you that we didn’t get where we wanted to get in these sports by playing against teams that couldn’t play. We improved by playing against better teams that beat us.And once we learned to play against those teams, when they came here they were fighting because they knew they were going to be playing a good team and that they couldn’t take Bermuda lightly.That’s what I would like to see in all our sports.If you are going to play sports, give it your best shot and make sure you are up against good opposition. Sportsmen who I spoke to didn’t see the article as being offensive. They told me I was just stating my opinion.The people who objected to what I said probably haven’t played sports or played very little, because you know if you play sports at a national level then it is going to be competitive. You don’t play for fun.At the Island Games, we could have had one of the younger teams, like the Under-19s, so they could get experience from playing with men, though I have to admit the men’s and women’s football teams did have several young players included.Let’s look at a competition like the Gold Cup that’s been going on in the United States.At one time, we could be competitive with a lot of the teams in the Gold Cup. What are the odds now of us playing against teams like that and competing?It would be very tough but if we’re playing against them on a regular basis. But the game is the best teacher and you learn by playing. The more you play the better you are going to become.Look at Nahki Wells who is playing professionally in England, his game is much better now than when he left Bermuda about three years ago. That’s what happens when you are playing against better players on a regular basis.I’m not going to say that everything I say about football is right, but it is my opinion.This is my country too, and I want the best for them. I want to see Bermuda up against the Trinidads, the Jamaicas and the USAs because we used to be there before and there is no reason why it can’t happen again.