YOUTH football has finally been given the green light!

This after Bermuda Football Association officials agreed to get both the Under-13 and Under-15 league seasons underway following a delayed start ? despite several clubs not meeting new administrative requirements.

Earlier this year, the BFA youth committee set a registration deadline for all clubs to enlist players and issued a directive for at least one individual from each club to enrol in a refereeing course and become responsible for officiating youth matches.

But several clubs failed to comply to the new requirements which in turn led to their automatic expulsion from the BFA-sanctioned youth leagues.

However, the BFA, though adamant new amendments will remain in place, decided it was best to start the season.

The association conducted several refereeing courses for potential new youth referees ? the last of which was held last Saturday. But the overall response, according to BFA youth committee chairman Gregory Grimes, has been poor.

However, Grimes said he was pleased to see that some "progress" had been made. "The youth committee were definitely disappointed but at least we've had a better response to registration than we've previously had in the past three years," Grimes told

"Even though we didn't get all what we had hoped to achieve accomplished there were still some positive things which came out of it."

One of those things, said Grimes, is that clubs are now well aware of the youth committee's firm stance aimed at elevating youth football. "Most of the clubs did better this year registering their teams than in the past. Obviously the youth committee did what they had to do. But it was discussed at the recent AGM that the season would start and all the teams would be allowed to play," added Grimes.

He said his committee had sent a strong message out to clubs underlining their objective of taking youth football to another level.

"There was no doubt about it at the AGM. The youth committee made it very clear that they intend to bring a more professional approach to the registration of youth football. And in turn it will filter down the other youth ranks," he said.

The youth leagues have also been bolstered by the arrival of 20 referees from various clubs, something which also pleases Grimes. "In total we have 20 new trained referees. And they will be used and then the other thing is that during both coaching courses there was actually a refereeing component within the curriculum," Grimes said. "So the coaches also benefited from it as well."

He added: "Even though we didn't get the numbers, we still got through to people and now they understand what this is all about. It's not what we would've liked overall, but we must move forward and the rules and policies which we have in place now we are going to advance them and all of this will be sorted out between now and December. It will be done in black and white and it will be made public." Grimes said parents were coming in late to the BFA looking to obtain transfers for their kids without any knowledge of deadlines which had to be met. All clubs who met the deadline, meanwhile, will receive free footballs, courtesy of the BFA, to go toward their various youth programmes.

Last week, youth boss Kenny Thompson publicly slammed clubs for not meeting the new requirements, describing the overall attitude within the football community as "mediocre".

"On the field we play against each other within the fairness of the game. . . but off the field we must all come together as one," added Grimes, who is prepared to to conduct sessions at any club on laws of the game with players, parents and spectators.

"The more we increase people's knowledge and understanding of the laws the better it will be."