Bermuda Football Association (BFA) president Mark Wade boasts an admiration for Jamaica’s achievements, especially their historic performances and advancement in international football, that is not only personal but rooted in a hope for Bermuda to achieve similar success.

Simply put, Wade is on a clear mission to elevate Bermuda’s football programmes to the heights reached by nations like Jamaica on the global stage.

With only an historic 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup appearance under their belts, Wade believes emulating Jamaica’s success as the Caribbean’s number one team across both genders is not far-fetched, provided his island—with a population of just over 63,000—takes the necessary steps to ensure the continued improvements of their men’s and women’s programmes.

The success of Jamaica’s men’s programme across the region and internationally includes Gold Cup runner-up finishes, Copa America appearances, and the famous 1998 World Cup appearance. These are complemented by Under-17 World Cup appearances in 1999 and 2011, as well as an Under-20 World Cup appearance in 2001.

Meanwhile, the women’s programme has achieved back-to-back World Cup appearances, including a knockout stage run at last year’s edition, as well as runner-up finishes in the Concacaf Women’s Championships.

“Bermuda is very small. We only have 63,000 people, so being able to have relationships with bigger countries like Jamaica and countries who've had good performances on the international stage into a World Cup in three different age groups, we want to do the same thing. And having these types of relationships and being able to hear the different discussions that have gone on with the minister of sport [Olivia Grange] and so on and so forth, can only bode well for us, and I can take some information back to Bermuda,” Wade told SportsMax.Tv during a recent visit to Jamaica with Concacaf President Victor Montagliani.

As Wade discussed his vision, he pointed out Jamaica’s recent initiatives, such as their athlete insurance programme, which provides crucial coverage for players’ health and wellbeing. For Wade, such a programme could be transformative for Bermuda, where athletes have traditionally faced limited insurance options.

“So here in Jamaica you had a programme where three-year-olds were playing football. So we've done that in Bermuda as well. But one of the things that we found that was interesting in our discussion was that Jamaica has an insurance programme for athletes, and that's something; maybe I'll go back and press our sports minister to kind of put it into place because that's very important for our athletes,” Wade shared.

Beyond financial stability, Wade expressed his excitement for the future of Bermuda’s men’s and women’s programmes, as he pointed out that the last few years have been filled with incremental progress.

In fact, Wade sees this as a pivotal moment to capitalize on that momentum, especially with a strategic plan in place that they are currently working towards fulfilling with the necessary backing.

“I think our prospects are really good. Our women, and I think this might be a really controversial thing to say, but our women are doing a lot better than our men in terms of their performances on the international stage. So we're trying to close that gap a little bit. We had a team that did very well in the Under-14 Challenge series, so we're hoping to kind of build on that. Our goal, as stated in our strategic plan, is for Bermuda to make it to a World Cup final in any gender and any age group,” Wade, who has been at the helm for the past eight years, stated.

“That is our strategic goal, and that's what we're working towards. In Bermuda, our biggest supporter is FIFA and closely followed by our government and then Concacaf, so we're able to kind of manage those funds, primarily because most of our staff are volunteers, so we have been able to efficiently use the money that we do get to get things done,” he ended.