NEWS this week that Bermuda has been awarded the 2004 CARIFTA Games is, of course, good news.

It's good that we'll be able to showcase the new National Sports Centre.

It's good that Bermudians will be able to demonstrate their ability to organise and efficiently run an event of such magnitude.

And, given the slump in tourism, it's good that we'll be able to welcome to our shores literally hundreds of youngsters, their families and friends as well as assorted dignitaries and officials from the entire Caribbean region.

It's a wonderful all-round opportunity to demonstrate all that's good about Bermuda . . . providing, of course, to use the Bermuda vernacular, "we do good".

And therein lies the problem.

While Bermuda Track and Field Association's hierarchy might feel they are again being attacked unfairly, it needs to be pointed out that the massive community effort required to ensure the success of this event, emphasised in particular by BTFA president Judith Simmons this week, can only be achieved if the governing body themselves show an entire change in attitude.

If they continue to alienate sponsors, short-change their affiliates and generally pay little or no attention to the athletes themselves, as has so often been the case through the years, then that community effort will not be forthcoming.

Bermuda Pacers chief Cal Simons noted this week that there's much to be done as regards preparation over the next two years, and it will be carried out far more efficiently if all those involved work as a team.

Under the current climate, that isn't at all certain.

Mid Atlantic Striders and West End Athletic Club, to name but two groups, have hardly enjoyed cordial relations with the governing administration. Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT), who for years have sent youngsters from here to compete in the Caribbean, suffered such a strained relationship with the BTFA that their differences ultimately resulted in legal action.

And there are untold stories from individuals dissatisfied with how the sport is run - many of whom are likely to be even less happy when they learn of the BTFA's imminent plan to double the athlete's annual registration fee from $25 to $50.

As we've been saying for years, all is not well with track and field in Bermuda.

And it would be naive to think that the differences that exist between the various groups can be swept under the carpet while we attempt to present a united front in the name of CARIFTA.

With the Island's bid having been accepted, now would appear to be a perfect time for all parties to sit down at the table, including Sports Minister Randy Horton who has been so instrumental in securing the 2004 Games.

Let's have some honest discussion, let's thrash out the problems that have plagued the sport, and let's make a genuine attempt to resolve the differences in order that confidence in the BTFA can be restored.

And when that's done, let's not forget there's still a whole lot of work ahead.

Since last hosting CARIFTA in 1980, Bermuda Track and Field Association hasn't organised a single meet of any significance.

Forget about last year's CAC cross-country championships which the governing body continually applaud themselves for organising. In truth, a bunch of schoolkids could have achieved the same result.

Only a handful of countries - around half a dozen - competed and it would have been a much bigger surprise if the event hadn't run smoothly.

As for the local track and field meets, the vast majority are low key and to be frank, not particularly well organised.

Even at the annual national championships, which these days could be mistaken for a less than ordinary high school meet, there's no evidence of electronic timing or wind gauges - basic requirements these days at meets anywhere else.

But time is on Bermuda's side. Two years is quite sufficient to ensure that we can handle a regional event such as CARIFTA, and handle it well.

The key now is whether those handed responsibility of organising this festival employ the same `my way or no way' tactics for which they have become renowned. Or instead attempt to work with rather than against many of those whose contribution to the sport has so often been ignored.

- ADRIAN ROBSON