Wayne Scott, the Sports Minister, said the Budget revealed yesterday for his ministry “looks pretty good this year” despite taking a cut of almost $1 million.

Speaking specifically on funding allocation for Youth, Sport and Recreation, Scott said that he was pleased with what the department will receive in the coming year. Sport will receive $10.745 million, down $917,000 from the $11.662 million that the department received last year, which represents 12.44 per cent of the ministry’s Budget.

“We’ve done very good,” Scott said. “If you look at the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation, the Budget is about $1 million and the vast majority of that is cost, wages and such.

“If you look at grants and contributions as a whole, we are down a little bit — $400,000, but then we don’t have large outlays like the Island Games last year. Last year we paid something like $500,000 for the Island Games. We had the Island Games and Carifta, in 2012, both held in Bermuda and they were huge events that we’re not holding this year.

“Overall, our Budget is down about 5 per cent and most of that is cost, doing things more efficiently, and then we don’t have some of the large expenditures like the Island Games.”

One sport understood to be keen on more funding is tennis, which is looking to upgrade the facilities at the WER Joell Tennis Stadium. “There is a corporate sponsor who has contacted us with some plans they would like to do and we’re working with them to see if that can happen,” Scott said.

The dip in the ministry’s budget from 14.32 per cent last year was also explained by Scott. “Typically what happens is every year the department vets all the applications and will go through it based on what the department’s priorities are and they will make recommendations to me,” he said.

“There are social services that are extraordinarily important and sports is part of that. We recognise that and the Minister of Finance [Bob Richards] has made very prudent and responsible changes to the Budget. If you look at the allocation that we have for those social programmes through Youth and Sport, I’m very pleased.

“We’ve worked hard in the department to put forward a responsible, reasonable Budget that accomplishes the outcomes that are necessary to support Bermuda. Commonwealth Games is a big one [this year], but just as we have Carifta for track and field and swimming in two different places, those things tend to be consistent. Not having the Island Games, which was a first, certainly allows us to decrease our budget some.

“The decision to host the Island Games was something that the previous Government and this Government supported, and it was a very good decision for Bermuda. Those are things that we like to see more of. The Budget this year looks pretty good.”

Andrew Woodworth, the newly elected president of the Bermuda Golf Association, is hoping that his sport is not impacted too much by a cut in funding.

“While any cuts to sport are disappointing, we don’t anticipate much impact on our association,” Woodworth said.

“Our association is largely self-funding, but any loss of funding will impact our programmes. Anticipated impact is minimal and any funding we receive is appreciated.”

Mark Crockwell, deputy chairman of the Port Royal Board of Trustees and chairman of the finance committee, is confident that the cuts will not affect the Island’s two government-owned courses, grants for which come under the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport.

“It’s been confirmed the grant has been reduced [by $160,000], but we certainly recognise that Government is operating under certain economic restraints, so there is a need for the golf courses to reduce its dependence on government funding over time,” Crockwell said.

“If you look back before the redevelopment of Port Royal and the recession, the golf courses were somewhat self-sufficient. With this board, which has been in place since last March, we have taken the approach that we need to try to increase revenue.

“We did see an increase in membership at Port Royal last year and hopefully that trend will continue again this year. We’re looking to make up for the shortfall by being more aggressive in raising revenue.

“Obviously, the cut in the budget is going to create some financial challenges for us, but we certainly believe the board, management and staff at both Port Royal and Ocean View are well equipped to deal with those challenges over the next year.”

Port Royal will host the PGA Grand Slam of Golf again in October and Crockwell said that the course will be ready for the big event.

“We think we can leverage off of that and try to increase revenue to make up for the shortfall in the funding,” he said.