A strong offence is needed by a national organization that provides the financial means for many children across the country to get involved with athletics.
KidSport Canada has 36 chapters in Alberta but St. Albert is the largest city without one. Luckily, we have a solid pinch hitter and she is just stepping up to bat.
Local organizer Kathleen Range is hosting a public meeting in two weeks time and she wants people to join her team to help kids. She explained KidSport recognizes the importance of organized sports in kids’ lives and seeks to provide access for those that would otherwise not be able to afford it. In Alberta approximately 4,000 children benefit from this service each year. There were 59 of them from St. Albert in 2009.
She discussed the matter with Mayor Nolan Crouse recently. Range believes there are many more than 59 kids that could be helped and she praises the KidSports’ ability to build on a community’s strengths.
“They’ve got kind of a template of what we need to put in place, what kind of volunteer staff that we need,” she elaborated. “I’ve always had an idea in the back of my head to do something like what KidSport was doing already. We both looked to see if there was anything out there that existed in St. Albert and came across KidSport. They had a very similar setup to what I was thinking of starting myself anyway.”
Each chapter participates in various fundraising efforts, the results of which are used to pay for organized sports clubs’ registration fees up to $300 for each child.
She said that representatives from the KidSport organization would attend the meeting to help further the cause and field questions. As far as she is concerned, however, the objective promotes itself. Her son plays hockey and she couldn’t imagine what life would be like for any kid who isn’t involved in sports.
“It’s just given us so many benefits. I would like that for every kid and some kids just can’t do it because they can’t afford to. There’s obviously a need; almost $12,000 was given out to kids in St. Albert. It’s very expensive to participate, especially in hockey but definitely in other sports. Why should that be a barrier for other kids?”
She encouraged curious people to stop by the information session to ask questions and show support.
“I plan to get as many people involved as I can. I think we’re going to be a fixture in the community.”
The meeting will take place on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the East Board Room on the third floor of St. Albert Place. To find out more about the organization and how else you can provide support to it, check out www.kidsportcanada.ca.
