Clyde Best admits he would liked to have seen more overseas teams competing in his annual youth tournament to be held at the National Sports Centre next week.Returning after a two-year hiatus, the Clyde Best Invitational Festival will feature 12 teams of which only two will be non-Bermudian in the form of Princeton FC, of New Jersey, and Virginia FC.The remaining teams will be the National Academy 1994s, 1996s and 1998s, the senior women’s national team, the National Academy Under-17 girls, and four local clubs: PHC Zebras Under-14s and Under-16s, North Village Under-16s, and Dandy Town Under-14s. It will be the first time the Festival has included female sides.Former West Ham striker, Best, said he hoped next year’s edition would have more of a foreign flavouring as he believed it was vital for Bermuda’s youngsters to test themselves against overseas opposition.“It’s a pleasure and an honour to have a tournament named after you,” said Best.“It’s important we get our young people involved in games like this, although I probably would have liked to have seen more teams from abroad coming here.“I’m a believer that the only way you’re going to improve is by playing better teams that yourselves.“Hopefully in the future we can get more teams involved from overseas and bring them here because that’s going to enhance our football locally. Let’s make next year’s even better.”While funding problems put paid to last year’s Clyde Best Festival, Mark Wade, the Bermuda Football Association’s player development committee chairman, insisted the lack of overseas sides was not due to financial constraints at the BFA’s end.He said many youth teams in the US simply needed to have the coffers to bring their teams to the Island because of the current global recession.“It’s not about budget cutbacks from a Bermuda perspective but it is reflective of the recession,” Wade said.“As everyone knows there’s a recession going on and teams who would have normally loved to have come to Bermuda can no longer afford it.”Devarr Boyles, BFA’s director of player development, said the local clubs would be allowed to field guest players to compensate for the loss their youngsters who are representing the National Academy.“We have had meetings with the clubs and we have requested that all of our National Academy players play for us,” said Boyles.“To ease the club’s burden we have allowed them to have as many as guest players as they want.“We would dearly loved to have had all overseas teams but unfortunately that didn’t occur.“North Village, the Under-16 Knockout final champions, will be playing, while we have a team arriving from the US, Princeton FC Under-16s, who are the USL Super Y-League champions.“There’s been a buzz at our National Academy training sessions with the players excited about the prospect of playing these games. It’s going to be a big weekend of football.”Boyles added that the Festival would be ideal preparation for those National Academy players who will be involved in CFU pre-World Cup qualifiers.“We have spoken to the clubs and requested the National Academy players play for us,” he said.“This (Festival) will provide a benchmark for our players who have been hard at work over the past eight months training, and playing practice matches against local opposition.“In addition, the National Academy coaches will monitor every player involved in this festival therefore those chosen will present an opportunity to raise the bar.”The Festival will run from Friday, April 13 to Sunday, April 15 with games held at the National Sports Centre and North Field.