World Cup qualifying nine months ago.

But next week local supporters get a chance to see six matches in the space of five days -- three of them involving our own team.

And in some ways, the stakes might be seen as even higher than they were when our senior side stumbled out of the World Cup against Antigua last April.

This time it's the under-17 squad on show, taking their first steps towards what hopefully will be qualification for the World Youth Cup, and perhaps even the World Cup. After all, it's these same players who will likely form the nucleus of Bermuda's future senior squad.

Under coach Kenny Thompson, the under-17s have already offered some impressive performances during Caribbean competition.

Many of those who watched them dismantle Cayman Islands at National Sports Centre last year argued it was the best show put on by any Bermuda team in some years -- albeit against weak opposition.

Now with home field advantage -- thanks to indecision on the part of some of our CONCACAF rivals -- the youngsters get a real chance to prove their worth against the likes of Barbados, Netherland Antilles and Jamaica.

At youth level, it's difficult to gauge the strength of any country, even more so within the Caribbean region where countries' footballing fortunes seem to fluctuate more than most. While Jamaica and Trinidad would generally be considered to have the best teams at senior level, there's no telling what kind of sides they can produce from their pool of teenage talent.

And for that reason, Thompson's own team, playing as they will in front of a home crowd, must genuinely fancy their chances of progressing to the next phase.

Like all of our national teams, they lack international exposure, but the under-17s have been playing and training as a team long enough now to have been moulded into a solid and organised unit.

With the right support in their opening match against Barbados next Monday (National Sports Centre, 9 p.m.), there's no reason why they can't give their own confidence, and the local game as a whole, a much-needed boost.

A second game against Netherland Antilles follows on Wednesday with the crunch likely coming against Jamaica next Friday when qualification for either side could come down to that match.

Without wanting to put added pressure on the boys, it could be said international success of any sort is long overdue for a game which Bermuda proclaims as its national sport.

A couple of wins next week, or even better victory in all three, would go a long way to lifting the gloom which has hung over the governing body and the game itself for many months.

Those fans who have drifted away from local soccer could do worse than spend an evening or two at Prospect.

The entertainment should be a lot better than witnessed on an average Sunday afternoon and they just might be pleasantly surprised.

ADRIAN ROBSON