As registration for fall and winter youth sports is well underway, inflation and the cost of living are making it unaffordable for some families to put their kids in organized sports.
On July 20, Statistics Canada reported that the inflation rate reached 8.1 per cent in June, a 39-year high. The price of gasoline alone accounted for 1.6 per cent.
Even in a double-income household, St. Albert resident Tara Rose said she and her husband have had to hold off on registering their two kids in sports due to the cost.
"We have good jobs, but we have a mortgage and bills, so we have to make a choice between sport ... or everyday expenses,” Rose said. "I don’t know how anybody does it."
Rose, who works as a social worker, said her family recently looked at three different sports to possibly register their kids in, but "we couldn't believe the prices."
“I can only imagine as prices continue to rise. My wage isn’t rising, my husband's wage isn’t going to go up. If it’s not affordable right now, what are we going to give up to make sports happen?”
On June 29, the provincial government announced $1.85-million in new funding for KidSport, a non-profit organization with 38 chapters in communities around Alberta. Through grants, KidSport helps put kids in sports by contributing to the cost of registration fees.
"The funds announced today will also provide a much-needed boost to the sector and make these sport and recreation opportunities more affordable and more accessible to kids across our province,” Minister of Culture Ron Orr said in a June 29 news release.
However, in order to qualify for KidSport's assistance, families must meet low-income thresholds. According to the KidSport Alberta website, the organization uses "the federal government low-income guidelines, plus approximately 30 [per cent] to determine eligibility." However, the federal government has not yet set a low-income threshold for 2022.
“We don’t meet any of the thresholds, and it’s not even applicable to some of the families I work with who are low-income," Rose said.
In 2021, the low-income cutoff (LICO) amount was $49,106 for a family of four like Rose's. The LICO for a family of three was $40,444, and $32,898 for a family of two.
Applications flooding in: KidSport director
The director of fund development for KidSport's St. Albert chapter, Stephen Kinsey, said the chapter has "a whack of applications already starting for fall sports."
2018 was the busiest year the St. Albert KidSport chapter has ever had, Kinsey said. That year, the chapter approved applications for 200 kids, providing $49,200 in funding.
So far, in 2022, the St. Albert chapter has approved applications for 44 kids, covering a total of $18,355 in registration fees.
"This has been an interesting year because we’ve had a lot more hockey applications than usual," Kinsey said.
According to the St. Albert Minor Hockey Association's (SAMHA) website, registration fees can range from $485.00 to $925.00 a year, depending on the age of the youth. SAMHA was unable to provide statistics on the number of kids registered to play hockey starting this fall.
"Fall is usually a big time of year because there’s a couple of fall sports, but also the winter rush," Kinsey said. "Generally speaking, we see an exponential increase in the number of kids and dollars based on fall and winter.”
Geoff Richer, the president of the St. Albert Minor Football Association (SAMFA), said in an email that "our registration this year is the highest it's been in over a decade."
"It's to the point where we don't have enough coaches to accommodate any more players at almost all age levels."
Richer added SAMFA usually sees a few families utilize KidSport each year. In 2021, Richer said, the association had six KidSport supported athletes.
The director of Image School of Dance, April Fidler, said in a Facebook message that her studios have offered access to KidSport for years, but few families who register kids in classes and programs use the funding.
"I can’t really say why," she said, adding it's "disheartening that only a small percentage of families think they can afford sports like ours.”
"I truly believe that dance reaches only a small amount of families when it should be accessible to all.”
Looking at the future, Rose said she is worried about the lack of affordability for youth sports only getting worse.
"It’s something that I think of a lot as a parent because if I’m struggling to pay for sports now, and in three years my son decides he wants to get into competitive sports, how am I going to afford that if it’s unaffordable now?”
“Something’s got to give," Rose said. "I can’t give them everything with this cost of living.”
