anging out on Marsh Folly Road as a teenager, David Bascome and friends waited for the rush hour traffic to build up.

Once there were sufficient obstacles in place, they began volleying the ball across the road, testing their mettle against the huge variety of vehicles making their way home.

This ritual, in which Shaun Goater was also a participant, helped improve their touch and concentration and was a sign of their devotion to improving the technical side of their games ? ?getting over the buses was always tough?.

Bascome as a child was obsessed with the game of football, not necessarily because it was going to lead him into a professional career, but just because he loved it ? loved playing it, loved talking it, loved watching it.

His devotion was such that in the glory days of incoming tours from UK pro teams, you could find him polishing the boots of his national team heroes in advance of their clashes with Glenn Hoddle et al.

?We were the original boot boys,? said Bascome, with a gleam in his eye.

?We just used to love the game and always wanted to be involved. Polishing their boots, fetching them drinks, all that sort of thing. We just wanted to be around our heroes.?

But Bascome also had a remarkably committed approach to the game, and self-improvement in particular.

When battling for a place in the Under-19 national side ? the now famous one that included World Cup-bound cricket stars Dean Minors and Clay Smith as well Goater ? Bascome showed a focus beyond his years.

?I actually made a list of the players who were rivals at my position,? said Bascome with a smile.

?I wrote down their names and all their particular qualities as players, I then crossed off the skills that I thought I also had. But what was left was the qualities that I didn?t have, so I started working on them, things like paying more attention to my left foot and my sharpness.

?And that?s something that I continued throughout my career. When I was playing in the indoor league, even though I had my place tied down in my team, I made a list of the players and their qualities who were the best in the league at my position and then worked on improving those areas of my game.

?I wanted to be the complete player and I worked hard on every aspect of my game so I could be.?

he day campus security came and physically removed Bascome from the pitch on which he was training at Anderson College, South Carolina, was the day Bascome knew he had to turn his life around.

A couple of months after Goater, Bascome broke into the North Village senior team ? ?in those days just being asked to train with the senior squad was a dream come true? ? and also earned his spot in the national junior side.

He was still far from dreaming of being pro. Instead his heart was set on a college scholarship and nothing beyond that ? and that is something he achieved.

Unfortunately he didn?t realise that playing football at college was only part of the reason he was there. His studies were neglected and, he can admit this only years later, he ?was lost?.

?I went there to play football and that is all I thought I was there to do,? admitted Bascome, whose demeanour altered as he discussed one of the more painful parts of his footballing past.

?The football side of it was going well enough but other aspects of my life were not. I pretty much ignored the studying side of things and me and my boys started being a bit mischievous, and I know the other guys are not happy about me talking about it. ?I got myself into trouble shall we say.?

When asked to elaborate on what ?trouble? meant, Bascome went on to explain some of the basics which included ?some stealing? ? apparently school books and even items as simple as delivery pizza, ?if I wanted to eat, I stole some pizza, it was the way we did things? ? but also some form of calling card scam that ended up with him being locked up, which involved him being removed from the pitch by the campus security.

?That was obviously the low point for me,? said Bascome, shifting around in his chair as he spoke.

?To be actually directly taken away from the sport I love brought home to me exactly how lost I was at that time. Something in my life needed to change, I had lost my direction and I realised just playing football wasn?t enough.

?In the end I actually dropped out of college and came back home and never completed my education. Now I am working in business, I have realised how much that education could have done for me.

?In a way, that episode in my life has helped me to motivate others. I wasted a tremendous opportunity, so now I try and tell people where they can go with their soccer, and that going to college can change your life, but it is not just about the game itself.

?Now when I am doing my motivational speaking or going into schools, I can draw on my experiences, I can talk about the street life, I can take the lessons I have learned in my life and try and help others apply them to theirs.?

ascome?s relationship with his fellow Bermuda professionals has always been a strong one. Having grown up with Goater, trained and played with him at North Village and with the national team, the two have always been close.

When they were away pursuing their respective careers, the two always kept in touch by e-mail and by phone ? ?sometimes a couple of times a week, sometimes not for a month or so depending on what stage of our seasons we are at? ? and they also ran their summer soccer camps in Bermuda together for a time.

But Bascome?s fondest memories with Goater ? the mischievous high jinks as children apart ? come from their national team trips together.

Along with fellow professional Kyle Lightbourne, the three of them brought something different to the national programme.

?When we used to go away on trips to places like Trinidad and Jamaica, we always thought ahead,? smiled Bascome.

?We?d buy loads of stuff like mangoes, nuts and chips to take with us. And then we?d sell them to the other players, make a few dollars here and there.

?It was part of the fun, we knew that people would really want them down there because we couldn?t always get stuff and we?d make a bit of money.?

The other ?bit of fun? occurred when Bermuda took on the British Virgin Islands during the 1992 World Cup qualifying campaign, the most successful in Island history.

?We knew it was going to be a straightforward game, and we didn?t intend any disrespect to our opponents, but we thought we?d have some fun,? he continued.

?We are professional footballers and we are in the entertainment business so we had a little bet among the three of us as to who could ?megs? our opponents the most times.

?In the indoor game, there is plenty of playing the ball through the opponents? legs so I thought we should bring it more to the outdoor game.

?Obviously the only reason I am telling you all of this is because I won that bet.?

here are plenty of people, many of whom have never watched the Major Indoor Soccer League, who think the indoor game is a bit Mickey Mouse.

Many of those same people believe that Bascome is too good a player to have spent his entire professional career ? aside from 82 minutes, although more of that later ? playing in the indoor, small-sided version of the beautiful game.

Bascome, as you?d expect, sees it differently and also reveals he turned down the opportunity to pursue an outdoor English career.

Having returned from his torrid time at college, he joined Boulevard for two seasons. He played there, at various stages, with both brothers Andrew and Herbie but also worked on five jobs ranging from construction to warehouse work.

His life wasn?t really going anywhere and although he was still enjoying his football, the pro dream was fast fading.

Having fallen asleep at a construction job, Bascome knew it was time to make some serious changes and the intervention of former national coach Garry Darrell made that a lot easier.

?He got me a trial over in Maryland with an outdoor team but because my green card wasn?t ready, I missed that season,? continued Bascome.

?I did well over there and it was suggested I go and have an indoor trial with the Harrisburg Heat. I got in there and started playing. It was fantastic in those days, you had big crowds, playing in front of a good 12,000 or so every match.

?There were some terrific players at the time and a lot of the top outdoor guys were also playing inside during the off-season.

?It is a fast-paced game, and first touch and sharpness are everything. You see a lot of the ball and that?s what I like. Now when I play outdoors I get frustrated and impatient. It also appealed to the crowds, it was quick, there was a lot of action and a lot of scoring and that?s what the Americans love.?

Despite the interest, there were a lot of changes in the leagues, with the NPSL and the MISL both running leagues and teams folding here and there.

Things went well at the Heat and he began to turn into one of the league?s better players, beginning to bang in the goals which would eventually get him to the 1,000 point mark he achieved at the start of the last season.

Bascome did go for trials in England at both Walsall and Cambridge and he actually turned down a chance to stay on at Walsall for an extended trial when they asked him to come back.

?I thought about the long-term picture, I thought about security for my life,? he continued.

?I was only 132-lbs and I knew that the English game would be different. I liked playing indoor and although people have said I should have gone for England, I was looking at the bigger picture.

?I was already thinking about the future and I knew I wanted to be involved in coaching or business or something when I finished and I saw better opportunities for myself in the US.?

His time with the Heat came to an end in 1992 when the national team were in Jamaica and he was told that if he went he might lose his spot with the club because of the ?only two foreigners? rule in place at that time if he didn?t come back.

He opted for the national team and ended up moving instead to the Denver Thunder, although they folded after just seven games.

It was then back to the Heat, although a small fracture to his spine cost him nearly two seasons out of the game.

Once he returned, it was 12 years with the Heat ? ?wonderful times although we just couldn?t win that championship? ? and then that team folded.

Bascome then embarked upon the shortest possible outdoor pro career, signing up on a four-game contract as a figurehead for the new Harrisburg City Islanders in the USL.

Despite being plastered all over their launch advertising, he lasted just 82 minutes over two games because of an injury and then it was back indoors again.

The last four years have been spent with the Baltimore Blast, picking up two beloved championships along the way, and now the possibility of one more.

?I don?t have any regrets about staying in the indoor game,? he added.

?I have had a wonderful time playing over there and I have built a life for myself outside the game. Now, through the Island Soccer League, I want to bring some of that back to Bermuda and maybe start some more players from here down the road I have travelled.

?And it would be great to win just one more championship . . .?