If the Bermuda sporting world had any doubts as to the hard times that lie ahead, they were quickly dispelled by Glenn Blakeney, the Minister for Youth and Sport, on Saturday.Speaking at a Youth, Sport and Recreation conference ahead of the Sports Awards, Blakeney told representatives from the various sporting governing bodies that they must think outside the box in order to fund teams and individual athletes.In a surprisingly frank discussion, the Minister, who said he was ‘speaking from the heart’, gave a blunt assesment of what the next year or so held for sport on the Island.“We are in challenging times, and all the usual platitudes, and looking for palatable words that can be digested easily so people can feel comfortable is not going to work when you’re facing the realities that we are facing,” said Blakeney.“There has been a very significant reduction across the board in that climate. You’ve got to use what you’ve got to get what you want because there’s not much left in the well.”While the final grant allocations aren’t, according to Blakeney, ‘set in stone’, any more money that becomes available is likely to come from a redistribution of the funds available, and not a new injection of cash.Cricket already knew things were going to be tough, football might be about to find out that life just got a little bit tougher.The reported $750,000 grant that Bermuda Football Association was due to receive could well drop to $500,000 by the time the Budget is ratified.Certainly Blakeney seemed to think the actually figure lay somewhere between those two numbers. “So far I think the commitment is $750,000 or $500,000, it’s somewhere around that,” the Minister said.Larry Mussenden, BFA president, was less than impressed with the news, threatening to ‘chop someone’s head off if that is the case’.Mussenden obviously didn’t get the austerity memo. He seemed to think that in tough economic times sport, and football in particular, should be getting more, not less.His argument was that the social ills that are currently blighting the Island could be fixed by investing time and money in sport, which would give people an outlet other than gangs, guns and drugs.“If we did get $750,000 I’m very appreciative,” Mussenden told Blakeney, “but I’m also equally disappointed because I thought we should have had more. In any event, in the big picture, when the economy is in a downturn and people are not feeling very good about their jobs and what not, the one thing they could turn to would be sport.“I thought perhaps this would be the perfect moment, the perfect year, for the Government to put more into your ministry. I think an increase in sports funding would have been the best thing for this year.“I know that the Budget that has been put before the House is not a fait acompli, it still has to be debated, so I’d like to encourage you (Blakeney) and all the MPs to over-ride what’s in the Bill for sports and push for us to get twice as much.”Not surprisingly, it wasn’t an opinion that was shared by the Minister, nor by others in the Cabinet it seems. In an exchange of views that would normally have only taken place behind closed doors it was hinted that football’s link to gang violence had played a large part in the reduction in its grant.The perception, right or wrongly, is that some football teams, players, and fans are inexorably linked to the various criminal elements operating throughout Bermuda.One thing is certain however, cricket and football aren’t being punished for a lack of results. Blakeney was keen to stress that he placed more emphasis on a sports development programme and praised the two national sports, plus Bermuda Track and Field Association for their work in this area.The Minister also was keen to point out that with the Carifta Games due on the Island next year, there was a great deal of consideration given to funding that event.“You know that we have Carifta next year, so there is no way that we would have even considered impacting in any negative way the funding allocation for the Carifta Games,” said Blakeney. “Being the host, we want to showcase the country, not just athletically, but with regards to the infrastructure, the amenities, etc, etc.“With that in mind we put Carifta, among a few other sports, front and centre. The sports that you know that really got hit hard was cricket and football. Cricket more than football, why?, I don’t think I should go into trying to rationalise (that decision), it’s just that when we looked at it, actually, over the last several years, cricket had more funding than football, even though football had been allocated more.“I don’t judge by a win loss column, I think emphasis is in the wrong place when it’s on winning. Should be built on character, development. When the emphasis is on winning, the focus and the pysche is shifted and a lot of times it’s to the detriment of the sport itself.“The developmental programmes that they have, in my humble opinion, are excellent, excellent.”While the Carifta Games will get the funding it needs, the Island Games in 2013 is another matter, and while there is no doubt that they’ll take place, organisers seem certain to have to operate with less funding than they were expecting.“I want to see the Island Games go on because it’s great for tourism, is great for the athletes that are here, and that are coming,” said Blakeney.“We have identified some challenges, not least of which is shooting. And we are looking at possibly leasing a prefabricated facility that can come and be errected, and then dismantled and got back.“It’s too short of a window for us and we don’t have the funds (to build one), so now we have to figure out a more ingenious way to facilitate what needs to happen during those Games.“The other thing is funding itself and my understanding is that another Cabinet, several years ago, made a commitment of about a $1 million and as in life, in politics, certain stances change.“It’s a process that is being actively engaged and we need to figure out together how we get what we need to do what we have to meet the criteria of the hosts of that Games.”