AFTER a decade and a half as Bermuda's best known club of its kind, the Bermuda R/C Electric Sports Club is going from strength to strength with new members keen to join.When the club was formed in 1991 among neighbourhood friends, Wendell Daniels, Keiaran Fox, Jermaine Minors and Aaron DeShields saw the big picture and decided to make it a sport.

Starting off in DeShields' father's yard, the quartet moved to an open lot.

Support of the sport came from an unlikely source when former Premier Pamela Gordon leased a plot of land at Controversy Lane for the group to hold their off-road weekend events.

As the club's roster grew, the club needed a bigger area and were soon courted by members of the Pembroke Community Club. The club joined forces with PCC, thus introducing younger blood into both entities and twice a month the club grounds have a capacity crowd of racing enthusiasts from across the island showing their racing prowess.

The club also reached another milestone with a totally revamped web site and an e-mail address.

Members and web surfers can log on to the club's site at: www.bermudarcelectricsportsclub.piczo.com and see each racer's profile, statistics and other areas of interest.

Club spokesman Wendell Daniels was quick to dispel any myths that the club was a passing fad or a watering hole for guys with "expensive toys".

He told me: "One of the club's mandates is to do charitable work and we have had several clean-ups at the former Controversy Lane site. We had an uphill battle dealing with illegal dumping where people would throw things over the fence into the track or leave discarded appliances in the parking area."

Pembroke West MP Jamahl Simmons has been an avid supporter and occasional visitor to the track. He expressed his interest in the club's activities and praised their efforts as a means of giving not only the neighbourhood youth but also folks across the island an age-appropriate venue to attend on a Sunday after church.

"The guys keep me informed and I intend to do as much as I can to help them," he said. "Their effort isn't just a Pembroke thing, it is an island-wide effort and it is great and I'm behind them 100 per cent."

Happy hour is celebrated on Friday nights when members congregate at PCC's skating rink and race under the lights from 7 p.m. But it doesn't stop there for the club's future plans.

"We have an off-road track being designed at PCC and also we are hoping to bring back the after- school programme. We tried it on a one-year trial basis at CedarBridge and it had a measure of success. Some of the very students who were involved in the programme stayed on as active members of the club," said Mr. Daniels.

The club has also caught the eye of Tom Baffer, owner of Bruckner Hobbies, and according to Mr. Daniels, talks are under way to have Mr. Baffer sponsor races here as he has sponsored racing events abroad.

On the local front, the club has liaised with community activist Keith Simmons in organising races at Pig Field. One local company, Fort Knox, has donated trophies.

For further information you can log onto the club's web site or e-mail any questions to brcesc@yahoo.com or telephone 292-1306.