Bermuda's sports fraternity is already owing big bills for using the National Sports Centre (NSC) and the prospects for payment seem bleak, says Chairman of the NSC's Board of Trustees Donald Lines.

Revealing that the Board is faced with "substantial receivables" for the Frog Lane complex, he termed it "a constant battle" and "not easy" to get payment from the various sporting organisations that have been using the facility.

Lines charged that it is unreasonable for sports bodies to expect use of the multi-million-dollar facility at minimal or no charge when it costs "a great deal" to maintain.

Asked if he thought some debtors might not take paying seriously because it's a Government-owned property, he conceded: "There is an element of that type of thinking. I don't know what it is in Bermuda but because something is owned by Government doesn't make it free, you know.

"The sporting organisations want everything for free but realistically it costs us a great deal of money to maintain (the NSC), to turn lights on and for electricity throughout the facility - and we have equipment to maintain and staff to pay.

"Government has said they would like us to make training available for national teams free - to the extent that we can't afford this they are going to have to pick up the pieces. There is no such thing as free in this world."

The chairman disclosed that part of the debts owed were a cut of the gate receipts for events staged at the NSC.

"It's amusing to me that whenever we hold an event up there - like a soccer tournament - we don't seem to get the gate receipts which we're supposed to get.

"That's another issue because we want to do the ticketing and Government is still mulling over that."

Stating that "from day one" the Trustees have been "walking a tight rope" where the NSC's budget is concerned, Lines said Government's request for certain "freebies" for sports organisation had thrown them a financial "curve ball".

"Our budget (to run the NSC) for last year was about $400,000 and we operated on a shoestring. This year's budget which we put in to Government is a pretty ambitious figure - to run it on that," he said.

Given the current state of affairs, he surmised that the public had not bought into Government's decision to establish a Board to run the NSC "like a private venture". The idea, he explained, was to have kept Government "at arm's length from some of the entities that want to use it".

While sympathetic to the cash-strapped plight of sporting associations, Sports Minister Randy Horton echoed Lines' sentiments that the NSC - still under development - must earn its keep.

"You can't be thinking of taking on a project like this unless you're thinking about possible areas of revenue.

"I don't think costs (of renting NSC) are prohibitive. If an association handles itself, better in terms of priorities, it might not be as prohibitive as they think.

"Obviously, if there has to be the use of lights, then somebody has got to pay for it. Certainly, we'll look at ways to make the costs as low as possible - I understand the challenge for all associations - but I think people must also realise that if we're going to have a first-class facility, then it must be paid for."

Horton said he foresees that an indoor arena - earmarked for sports such as basketball and for entertainment events - can be a major financial contributor.

There is only one snag. That section of the NSC is no way near ready for development.

"There's quite a way to go before we can say exactly when that will be in place," said Horton.