Parents may have to pay more for running sports if costs go up
Some Ottawa sports groups say that because of the rising costs of running ice-based sports like minor hockey and ringette, they may become more exclusive.
The City of Ottawa Ringette Association’s (CORA) registrar, Kari Stachon, says that registration fees for kids who want to play the sport are between $120 and $155 more than they were in 2019-20.
Parents now have to pay up to $750 per child under 19 to enroll them in CORA for the next year.
“This could hurt families who are already struggling with the high cost of inflation. They might not be able to return this year, and I wish there was something we could do,” she said.
Still, Stachon said that this year’s increase in registration fees is necessary to cover the association’s rising costs.
She said that the organization had been running at a loss for the last two years “to keep costs low and keep people interested in the sport,” but that wasn’t a good idea anymore.
Stachon said that the rising cost of renting ice rinks, the increase in wages required for referees, and the increase in insurance payments and fees paid to Ringette Ontario are “putting quite a bit of pressure” on the organization.
Since 2019-20, the cost of renting ice rinks has gone up by 14.5% and the cost of hiring referees has gone up by 39%, according to Stachon.
By the time this article was published, Ringette Ontario had not replied to CBC’s request for a comment on the higher referee wages.
The cost of renting ice is going up
Stachon said that the price of renting ice at a rink is the thing that drives up costs the most.
“Even a small change in the price of ice will make a big difference over the course of our whole season.”
In 2019, the City of Ottawa said that the hourly rate for minor users like CORA to rent rinks from the city was $195.54 (including HST). For September to December 2023, it will cost more than $20 more.
A memo from the city to sports organizations, which CBC News got a hold of, says that these rates will go up again in January by about $4.
Even though CBC asked for an explanation, the city has not said why rink rental fees have gone up. In an email, Dan Chenier, a spokesperson for the city, said that the rates were set and approved by the city council as part of this year’s budget.
“We thought costs would go up [in 2023]. Helen Tyson, president of the Nepean Minor Hockey Association (NMHA), said, “We didn’t expect the second one.”
Tyson said that cost is the “most significant expense” for the organization. He said that last year, the city sent NMHA a bill for more than $1 million. She also said that this year, the NMHA will have to pay more to pay referees.
“COVID has had an effect on us…Our number of [participants] has gone down. Our costs, on the other hand, keep going up,” she said.
‘A sport for the well-off
Tyson said that the NMHA will not raise its registration fees for the coming year.
She said, “We think hockey is becoming a sport for the rich, and we had already raised our rates for 2022-23 after COVID, so we just didn’t want to.”
Tyson said that the NMHA is getting rid of paid timekeepers at some games and training parents to do the job instead so that registration fees don’t go up.
We tried to set up our budget so that our players wouldn’t have to pay for these costs this year, but that’s only for this year, she said.”If the price of ice goes up, which I think it will, I think our registration fees will have to go up as well.”
Tyson said, “We’re, so to speak, scraping the bottom of the barrel.” We can’t really cut much more to keep these costs down.”
Still, Tyson said it makes her sad to think that the sport might cost more.
“Team fees, equipment, and the cost of registration will probably add up to $1,200 to $1,500 per player per year. “It’s just not possible for families to do that anymore,” she said.
She also said that there aren’t many ways for kids who want to play the sport to get financial help, which makes it even harder for them to join.
“It’s such a great community and a great sport for these kids to be a part of, and to think that it might become an exclusive thing to do… makes me sad.”It’s really hard to swallow.”