Devonshire Recreation Club, Somerset Bridge Recreation Club, Pembroke Hamilton Club (PHC) and E Sports Bermuda have been praised by the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation after graduating as the second cohort of its Sports Club Business Planning Incubator.

The Minister of Economy and Labour, Jason Hayward, was on hand at a showcase dinner, to hand out grants after the clubs completed ten business-planning sessions from May to September 2026.

The course is conducted to highlight the importance of strengthening the business capacity, financial management and long-term sustainability of Bermuda’s sports clubs.

In his speech, Minister Hayward congratulated the participating club executives and recognised their commitment to voluntarily dedicating their evenings and weekends to the programme while balancing their professional, personal and club responsibilities.

“Bermuda’s sports clubs hold some of the most valuable community assets in this country: fields, kitchens, halls and gathering spaces,” said Minister Hayward.

“But maintaining an asset and running a sustainable business are two different disciplines. This Incubator was designed to close that gap.

“A club with a credible plan and clean financial records can sit across the table from a bank, a funder or a sponsor and be taken seriously.”

The programme also included site visits to each participating club, allowing the clubs’ business plans to be tested against the buildings and grounds where they will be implemented.

With the completion of the second cohort, eight clubs have now completed the Sports Club Business Planning Incubator, with 21 sessions delivered across the two cohorts.

More than $55,000 in grant funding has already been converted into facilities and equipment and Hayward said the results demonstrate that sports clubs are an important part of Bermuda’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

“This is entrepreneurship,” Hayward said. “Our national entrepreneurship strategy, the Bermuda Entrepreneurship Blueprint, sets out to build a stronger base of small and medium-sized enterprises. Sports and recreation is a real part of that picture, one of the largest sectors on BEDC’s register of entrepreneurs.”

The Bermuda Entrepreneurship Blueprint, developed jointly by the Ministry of Economy and Labour and BEDC, includes identifying skills development and access to financing among its five areas of focus. The Sports Club Business Planning Incubator supports both objectives by equipping clubs with business-planning skills and helping them develop the financial information and strategies needed to pursue funding and other opportunities.

Minister Hayward thanked the Department of Sport and Recreation for its support and funding, which made the development grants and programme delivery possible. He also acknowledged BEDC, Fusion 4 Business, the guest presenters and other specialists who contributed to the programme.

He also thanked Chelsea Warren and William Spriggs of BEDC’s Economic and Co-operative Development Unit for their work supporting the clubs throughout the programme.

“Government’s role is straightforward,” the minister said. “We work to create the conditions in which Bermudians and Bermudian organisations can succeed: funding, skills, guidance and access to capital. The work itself belongs to the clubs.

“To our four graduating clubs, you have done the planning. Now comes the implementation. Congratulations to each of you and thank you for what you give to your members and to your communities.”