The Bermuda national cricket team has been announced and there is a mixture of new and old faces. Once again we have somehow managed to shoot ourselves in the foot by taking a weakened team – no Chris Douglas, no OJ Pitcher and no Delyone Borden.

It has been several years now that cricket has been fighting multiple battles off the field. If it's not lack of player interest, than its job related, if it's not that it's lack of professionalism. Personally, I am not going to waste your time discussing lack of player interest, or issues concerning jobs, because they have been issues for so long one can only wonder why they have not been rectified.

The topic of discussion is professionalism, or lack thereof, in most of our sports.

Last weekend I went to Somerset to take a brief look at our national team's preparations and was surprised at what I observed. The game was well organised, the players were participating, but the overall match lacked professionalism; players dropping catches and laughing, players not walking in with the bowler, no intensity in the game, basically everyone just going through the motions.

If I may, I want to offer these words of wisdom in the hope of encouraging the national players as they prepare to embark on their journey to South Africa and Namibia.

Living in a country like Bermuda challenges a sportsman to be professional even though he is not treated as one. Professionalism is an important ingredient at the highest level. What is professionalism? Professionalism is the standing practice, or methods of a professional, as distinguished from an amateur.

Why is it that most of our athletes lack professionalism? Simple! Our players do not get paid, and many of them just play for fun, and not for the love of the game, hence the reason why they never reach their full potential.

The difference between a Bermudian athlete and foreign athlete is that they look at sports as an avenue for their future and in some countries as a way out. Sportsmen in Bermuda figure that if they don't succeed in sports it doesn't matter because in most cases they have a good job or quality education to fall back on.

This mindset hinders us in our commitment, passion, and ability. When we recognise that we can use sports as a way of making a living, many will start to adjust their preconceived misconceptions that Bermuda sports can't do anything for them.

The common day player will no longer be supported when statements are made that "we are only amateurs, we are not getting paid". Correct, you are merely amateurs and you are not getting paid but, as an individual do you not take pride in your performance?

Do you not want to take your successors to the next level? Do you not want to be the best that you can be?

If money is what drives you instead of country success then you seriously need to consider not playing – because the money will come, the more successful your country becomes.

My first speech to any team that I have coached is as follows:

"We will be training two to three times a week, playing Saturdays and Sundays. If there is anybody who does not want to reach their optimum potential, or does not want to train hard with a purpose they can leave right now. I do not plan on wasting four to five days of my week to coach players that do not want to learn and do not want to help the club excel.

Therefore, you have a choice to stay and work to become a better player and achieve things that you have never achieved before, or you can leave because I do not want to waste your time or mine."

Although this may seem harsh at club level it has to be done because many players play purely for recreational reasons, but that doesn't work for me. I am a professional even though I do not get paid. It is my aim to ensure the players have a professional approach, because in the end it can only benefit them.

For a national team player professionalism is a matter of pride. When you step on the field to play against any opponent you want to know that you are prepared and ready for battle. You can sit and grumble about money all you want, but if you fail to prepare like a professional it is you who will get embarrassed. When spectators look at the results it is you who they will criticise and stereotype as a domestic player.

Now having said that, if that does not matter to you, if the embarrassment of failure for you and your country doesn't mean a thing to you, then you should simply not be playing.

For me, the day I stepped on to the field and winning wasn't important anymore, I knew it was time to pack it in.

They could have offered me all of the money they wanted because I do not, and never did, play for the love of money, I played because I LOVED the game and wanted to achieve team and personal goals.

The biggest problem that I have with our national cricket players is their failure to share the information that they learned at the national level with their club players.

These guys are being taught by some of the best coaches around, but when they go back to their local clubs they do not share the information with their fellow team-mates. Furthermore, they go back to their clubs and slide into the same old bad habits that they used to display.

If our cricket is going to improve our national squad players must work with the Bermuda Cricket Board by taking their professionalism back to the clubs for a quality domino effect. The more club players learn about professionalism the better. It can only enhance the quality of the league.

Lastly, I leave you with these words from former West Indies spin bowler Roger Harper: "One of the weaknesses in the West Indies is our lack of true professionalism. The challenge is to teach players professionalism and if we can do that in the territories then our international performances will rise. The discipline that comes with professionalism will be a tremendous benefit."