THE long-awaited Clubs Commission report is now in the hands of Government.

So said Rolfe Commissiong who was put in charge of the report by Sports Minister Dale Butler.

"The report has been completed and has been given to the Minister and has gone before Cabinet," said Commissiong this week.

Although the early response to the initiative from the island's clubs was lukewarm at best when a meeting was held at BAA three years ago with only five clubs turning up, Commissiong said he was pleased with the final outcome.

"Yes I was pleased," he said. "We had about 15 clubs that did (eventually) respond and go through much of the process with us. Most were all our traditional or major clubs on the island.

"I think most of the club administrators and executives recognise that there has been 20 years of stagnation (in the clubs) ? to say the least. They recognise that the status quo is crying out for a change."

Government has put aside $1 million for the Commission's use and now it will be a matter of dividing up the money to get the clubs back into some sort of reasonable shape. "Once you have the major stakeholders on board ? mostly the clubs themselves ? we can affect change in positive way and that creates the right type of incentives to move the process along," said Commissiong adding, "I think we have accomplished that."

Now it will be up to Minister Butler to announce what the next stage will be. "I anticipate the qualifying clubs will be given the necessary support ? the financial resources ? that they desperately need," added Commissiong.

One of Bermuda major clubs, PHC, started the process of improving their degrading facilities and reinventing themselves some eight years ago.

And while Government has given funding to put in new lights, the PHC administrators and executives have largely gone to the private sector to rebuild their club.

Although members have been frustrated by the exceptionally long wait to see their new club come into being, club president Chris Furbert said it will be worth the wait.

"It is a long process. We are just trying to finalise everything for the club house now. It will be worth it in the end," said Furbert recently adding that he expected the club house to be finished by the end of 2007.

"We took it on ourselves to do this. People have to realise what the clubs mean to the country and the community at large. Most clubs play a vital role in the community ? what with the junior programmes and other things we provide throughout the year. I don't know how you can measure it."

As far as reinventing the clubs in Bermuda, Furbert said: "Bar revenues are not what they used to be because people are not drinking like they used to so you can appreciate that the clubs have to look at different ways of generating revenue."

And he admitted that clubs, who have wanted to remain totally independent, will have to look for Government assistance. "It may mean an annual grant from Government whether it is $20,000, $30,000 or $50,000 a year to take care of the maintenance or whatever is required to have a properly run facility.

"Years ago the clubs were the centrepiece for the males. Now clubs need to become more family orientated. We have to think what can the family do when they go there."

PHC plan to make the whole family welcome in their new facility when it opens at the end of 2007.

"We will have a multipurpose facility. We will have a health club so that mum or dad can work out while little Johnny plays soccer."

The initial decision to close down the club ? and particularly the playing field and club house ? was a tough one back in the late 1990s, said Furbert.

"Trust me it took some doing before we took the decision to bite the bullet and go forward. As the president of the club I don't feel good that we have lost our clubhouse but if I look at the long term and the big picture I know that it will be there for many years to come and that helps. We have to look at the bigger picture. I must admit I didn't think it would take as long as it has. But these things happen when you build ? whether it be a club or a house."

Furbert added: "We hope to break ground (for the new club house) in next couple of months and hope to have it finished at the end of the 2007."

The new field is being used for training. "The main surface is done and they are training on it," he said.

Minister Butler said PHC's new facility "will be the model for the future".

He said: "PHC is emphasising community and family ? they will have after-school assistance, computer programmes, a health club ? it will be a comprehensive club. They have been able to do a lot of stuff on their own. PHC are going to become the model for the future even though it has been difficult for them."

But Butler said clubs will have to be accountable if they are going to receive Government funds. And that accountability will be proper elections, financial reports and stating what their long and short term goals will be.

Commissiong said of PHC's dream facility: "I have always felt that PHC, with their plan, could have represented, and they still do, a way in which a club has utilised the private sector and resources to bring about revitalisation."

But he admitted that the club members have been very patient in seeing the work completed. "They have waited a long time," he said adding that he believed that the delay may have been held up by funding for the project from the banks.

"They did receive Government support years ago. Potentially and theoretically they could provide a model for the (other) clubs."

But Commissiong said that this whole process is a "two-way street".

"The Government and by extension the private sector are going to require transparency and accountability with respect to funding. Government understands that the clubs play such a critical role in their respective communities ? they play a very key role in any social agenda that is rolled out by the Government."

Butler said the problems with Bermuda's clubs have over the years "gotten out of hand".

"When I became Minster they came in highlighting their problems but it was never the executive who came in to see me ? it was the members who were concerned. I kept getting these reports and also I visited these clubs and realised that we needed a comprehensive report."

He said the report will be debated in Parliament and then it would go to three parts of the island to be debated and explained. Then he hoped a Board of Governors would be set up to "advise me how that money will be appropriated".

Butler said the clubs have now been able to give detailed plans of what they wanted to do. "That was one of the problems we had previously and also the clubs didn't want Government to be involved.

"But they started to lose their membership ? things have changed drastically over the years. They have been struggling to find members who want to participate in fundraising activities."

Commissiong said he has learned a vast deal about the clubs in Bermuda while putting together the Clubs Commission report.

"Most clubs were working man community clubs. Four or five are over 100 years old and then another 10 are around 50 years old," he said.

And although the clubs, many of whom were started by a group of families, have always been looked upon a places where team sports such of football and cricket have been organised, that was not always the case.

"That really only happened after the war (World War Two). Prior to the war they were not there for organised sporting activities. Basically they were almost like gentlemen's clubs but for working class men ? mainly black men. After the war with the growth of spectator driven team sports did the clubs promote and participate in those activities. Then you had the baby boom generation and in some ways the clubs never really caught up. The growth was phenomenal and the clubs didn't know how to capitalise on it."