The biggest misconception when one speaks of Somerset and St. George's Cricket Clubs is that the Cup Match clubs are raking in the money from Bermuda's top sporting event.

The popular two-day cricket match will mark its 100th anniversary this summer when St. George's stage the event at Wellington Oval. And though funds generated from Cup Match provide a large portion of the clubs' revenue, that money only helps to cover the various programmes and the day-to-day running of the clubs.

"Cup Match brings in our main source of revenue to keep our progammes going,'' said Louis (Red) DeSilva of St. George's who recently beat out female contender Althea Richardson by one vote to retain the presidency for a fourth term.

Had the voting gone in Mrs. Richardson's favour she would have become the club's first female president.

"She's an excellent person and if that one vote had gone the other way it wouldn't have hurt the club any,'' said Mr. DeSilva of his vice president.

Other women also hold key positions at the club, with Pat Washington the treasurer, Renee Foggo the assistant secretary and Nel Caisey on the management committee.

"They play a very important role, there are certain things that women just do best,'' said the president.

"Most of our women are members of the club and not just an auxiliary.'' It's widely known that more money is circulation during Cup Match than any other time of the year in Bermuda, except for Christmas time. Stores hold Cup Match specials and even travel agencies and airlines capitalise on the long weekend by arranging holiday packages.

But that money doesn't filter back to the clubs, Mr. DeSilva said.

"We should make a lot more off Cup Match than we actually do,'' he said. "A lot of the money that's made off the advertisement of Cup Match doesn't come back to the clubs and so the pickings we do get we have to use to run our club for two years.

"Cup Match brings in our main source of revenue. But although people think it's a great amount, it really isn't.'' It is the bar receipts in particular that Mr. DeSilva said he would prefer not to have to rely heavily on when he took over the presidency three years ago.

It has been a challenge for the club's management trying to implement programmes that can generate other income for the club.

"When it comes to financing the club and its programmes, I don't think the general public -- unless they are fully involved in club life -- are acquainted with just how much it costs to run the programmes that the club have,'' he said.

"We have three junior teams, a reserve team and a first team and to supply these players with equipment, a coach and having the field maintained it becomes very expensive to run. That, along with our cricket programme which is even more costly because of the preparation that is involved there.'' While cricket and soccer have long been the major sports of the two Cup Match clubs, they have seen the need to be creative in developing other activities for their members.

"We have table tennis that we are involved in, thanks to Mansfield Smith, and we have also sponsored a girls softball team,'' said Mr. DeSilva.

With Cup Match alternating between the two grounds, the clubs don't enjoy the financial returns every year. That's where bar receipts from hosting major matches help offset the day-to-day expenses.

"The club's financing is mainly from our bar receipts,'' Mr. DeSilva revealed.

"Our membership is not as large as a lot of other clubs, but the membership we do have I'm grateful for because they are dedicated members.

That helps a great deal in achieving the things we are achieving.

"I would rather have 100 or 200 dedicated members than a 1,000 who don't care. Membership dues won't bring in any significant financing so everything is reliant on the bar.'' Added Mr. DeSilva: "Yes, when I first became member I said that I was going to try to direct the club away from that (relying solely on the bar) and I have tried. But it is not as easy to achieve as it might sound, but I think we are headed in that direction.

"I'm not saying we're going to close the bar down because the bar is something that the members want. And it's not for me or anybody else to say that the members shouldn't get what they want.

"But if clubs make the mistake of not changing with the times and continue to rely on their bars then they are doomed to fail.'' Colin Smith, who took over as Somerset's president in the same year as Mr.

DeSilva, also has the responsibility of keeping his club on a solid footing.

They marked the new millennium's first Cup Match last year by dethroning the champions in an exciting Cup Match at Somerset.

Mr. Smith has seen membership decline at the club in the 25 years he's been a member. It's a sign of the times, he acknowledges.

"Guys who used to be members just don't come around any more,'' he says.

"There are a lot of other influences, guys hang around outside and members get discouraged. The older members just don't have the time to come down to the club and the younger members don't contribute to the club at all. They are not even members.

"All the clubs are facing the same thing. There used to be membership clubs where you had to be a member in order to be involved but nowadays membership clubs are starting to fade away.'' Mr. Smith said his club was doing whatever it could to increase membership.

It's a proud club with some fantastic achievements, particularly in soccer, having won all the major trophy several times.

"We're being pro-active, trying to get old members involved with the club and trying to find new members,'' said Mr. Smith. "It is hard nowadays to find people who are willing to come out and be members.'' Any club is only as strong as its committees and Mr. DeSilva is pleased with the various people on his committees, people who bring various skills and talents.

"When I was elected president one of the first things I did was try to encourage people with resources and talents that we need to run such an organisation to get involved,'' said the president.

"I think I've achieved that to some degree. We have a very good working committee, a young but talented committee.

"To compliment that we have people like Mrs. Richardson and Herbert Pearson who have been around club life for a long time, who can use the wisdom of their years to help the club.

"One of the frightening parts of being president of St. George's Cricket Club is when you realise the history behind the club and the responsibility that comes from being president of a club like that.

"In a position like this you take a lot of stick, you realise you are there to try to direct the club in the way it should go but your are not always going to please the members you are trying to help. Over the last few years I've come to appreciate the fact that I've been given the privilege of sitting in this position.'' Mr. DeSilva revealed that the club is planning to build a major stand on the western end of the ground to increase capacity for Cup Match.

"We went out and sought sponsorship for the things we were trying to do, and we've tried to create other activities in the club to help us raise funds,'' he explained.

"We don't have Bingo like a lot of other clubs which brings in continuous revenue on a weekly basis. Some of the clubs are using gaming machines but we made a decision to stay away from that.'' St. George's have been planning since last year for the 100th celebrations of Cup Match and as the holiday appears, the enthusiasm will increase amongst the members.

"Yes, there is a lot more enthusiasm amongst the members during a Cup Match year, but if you are talking about the committee members, I believe they are more eager to work during the off Cup Match year because they realise that is the year they have to work the hardest, to maintain a steady cashflow,'' explained Mr. DeSilva.

Friday: Sports Minister Dennis Lister speaks about the challenges facing sports clubs.