Fee inflation pushing many kids out of sports, B.C. non-profit warns

The surging cost of living isn’t just hitting food and housing, it’s increasingly affecting the cost to participate in sports and pushing kids out, according to a B.C. non-profit.

“We’ve seen these fees double at times,” said Valerie Gosselin, executive director of Athletics for Kids. “It’s just becoming harder and harder. And as a result, parents are forced to take their children out of sports, it’s just heartbreaking.”

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Athletics for Kids provides grants of up to $450 per child per year to cover the cost of registration fees for a variety of sports.

Gosselin said the organization is seeing growing demand, as the cost to participate climbs.

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According to consulting firm Solutions Research Group, the average Canadian family currently shells out about $2,500 per child aged 13-17 for organized and casual sports in a year, and more if their kids do expensive sports like hockey or skiing.

Participating in sports helps kids improve confidence, mental health and even performance at school, Gosselin said.

“It’s no surprise when a parent has to choose between food and rent, sports are the first thing to go,” she said. “We know that when children are shut out of sports, it can set them back for life.”

Anita’s two sons participate in competitive swimming and diving, an activity she said they wouldn’t be able to do without the help of grants like Athletics for Kids.

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“Without A4K I would be sort of a depressed single mom at home not knowing what to do,” she said. “I have seen a lot of families struggling, but they have just quit.”

She said the cost to participate in swimming has gone up since the pandemic, and is now in the range of $1,600 per year per child.

One of her sons has autism and the other has ADHD. She said both have overcome those challenges and thrived in the sport.

“Swimming, diving, what the boys are doing, has given us a purpose,” she said. “For then the roadblock to be financial because of me, that was so crushing to me.”

While the Athletics for Kids grants have helped the family stay in the sport, she said that amid growing demand from families other programs she’s relied on to make up the difference have dried up.

“The costs have gone up, the grants have gone down,” she said.

Athletics for Kids says it has given out about 1,000grants in the last year, and hasn’t had to turn anyone away yet.

You can find out more about the program or how to donate at its website.