Campaign, a lot of people get worried.

The symbiotic relationship that is alcohol and sports is once again under the spotlight and it has Island sports groups -- soccer and cricket clubs chief among them -- watching very closely.

The Ministry of Youth Development and Sport -- working in conjunction with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports on a drug free sports policy -- has openly expressed its concern about the role alcohol plays at sporting events.

But as much as they're in favour of ridding sports of both illicit and performance-enhancing drugs, sports groups are wondering what their future will be without alcohol sales and sponsorship.

"It would be the death knell of many clubs,'' St. George's soccer club president Mansfield Smith told the annual Sports Conference last week. "It should be controlled but to eliminate it altogether, a lot of clubs will have to close down.'' Therein lies the quandary: Just where -- and how far -- will the drug policy go in terms of alcohol and what can sports groups do about it? "It's not an easy dilemma,'' acknowledged Youth and Sports director Anthony Roberts.

Nor a new one.

Booze and sports go together like hand and golf glove. Several professional sports teams are actually owned by breweries or distillers. And just try and remember how many times you saw the name Budweiser on the Super Bowl broadcast.

"It's just the very nature of it,'' says Bermuda Cricket Board of Control president Ed Bailey. "Sports is a social environment and that's where alcohol comes into play.'' Sports groups face a dilemma Roberts admits the Ministry is taking a close look at alcohol's link with clubs but stops short of saying the new policy will ban its sale at sporting events.

"Not at this moment,'' he replies when asked if ridding venues of alcohol is on the agenda.

The Ministry is, however, pushing hard for its "more responsible'' use and sale in the hope of lessening demand, limiting exposure to youths, and, ultimately, pushing sports groups towards alternate means of revenue-generating, Roberts said.

While no one knows exactly how much sports groups earn from alcohol sales, one figure put forward is about $4 million a year -- a conservative estimate, according to Roberts.

Bailey says 15 of the 18 cricket affiliates have liquor licenses and to take them away would be to take away their lifeblood.

The BCBC's dilemma goes further, when you consider the principal sponsor of a visit by India to the Island in May is Burrows Lightbourne Ltd.

"Without their support, we wouldn't be able to bring in the India team,'' said Bailey.

While cricket has no trouble attracting other types of sponsorship for its youth programme, adult and club-level competition often don't have that luxury.

Bermuda Football Association president Neville Tyrrell concurred.

"We're not going to have a situation (where there is no alcohol) unless something else is in place,'' he told the Sports Conference.

Devonshire Colts secretary Stanford Bean said his club did not sell alcohol at the first match of the 1995-96 season. "It was devastating financially,'' he said.

Says North Village Community Club's Wendell Lindsay, "this issue affects many, if not all, clubs regardless of the sport ...'' Some groups expressed such concern at the reference to alcohol on the mission statement unveiled at the conference that they voted for a new one that made more clear the difference between it and drugs.

(Lindsay said North Village didn't balk at signing the original, but merely "reserved their right'' because they were "unclear as to our rights and obligations'').

The Ministry does not help clarify matters by refusing to distinguish between drugs and alcohol in its drug free sports policies. This, Roberts said, is intentional.

As far as the Ministry is concerned, both carry health risks and, according to Roberts, "we don't want young people making comparisons.'' That's also because studies indicate that alcohol is closely linked to the so-called "gateway drugs,'' such as marijuana, said Vaughn Mosher, managing director of Benedict Associates, an Island EAP and addiction consulting firm expected to play a role in the Drug Free Sports campaign.

He notes how role models for youths are quite often sports stars; temptation becomes greater when children see people they look up to drinking.

Roberts says that exposing Bermuda's youth to alcohol at sporting events sends a message that it's not only acceptable, its common-place.

Bailey disagreed.

"Kids go into the supermarket or their home environment,'' he said. "They're not exposed to alcohol for the first time when they go into a club.'' "I'd be happy to eliminate alcohol from sports, but people have to be honest about the situation.'' More than just the sale of alcohol is the control of it within the sports arena.

Sports groups say they are responsible and abide by the rules of the liquor licensing board. Roberts says they need to "exercise more discretion'' in who they sell it to.

Tomorrow: Problem solving DRUGS DGS