Sport has multiple advantages for children but the cost can be a strain on the family budget. Photo: File.
Every day it would appear there are harrowing stories in the media about the impact of cost of living and interest rate rises on families.
Many in Canberra are struggling to make ends meet and the sacrifices being made are ever-increasing.
One that is becoming obvious is that some families are opting not to register their kids in junior sport.
I have some experience in this space through association with a range of charities and community sporting organisations in Canberra.
I was also patron of Every Chance to Play, an organisation providing funding to families unable to pay registration fees for children’s sport.
Every Chance to Play helps support families so that the cost of sport doesn’t get in the way of participation. Photo: Supplied.
Every Chance to Play, which is about to be relaunched after being in a hiatus, has never been more necessary.
In its prime, it assisted about 200 Canberra families.
In one instance, a family couldn’t afford to pay registration fees for their girls to play netball in Tuggeranong – and it wasn’t just registration fees, there was the cost of uniforms and getting the girls to training and games.
Every Chance to Play and the netball club provided financial and emotional support to ensure the girls could play.
This is potentially a life-changing moment for that family.
In my experience, most sports clubs in Canberra can provide some level of support. I have seen it firsthand in the past at clubs like Majura Football Club. But it takes a fair degree of courage to ask for that support in the first place.
The problem seems to have spread, with parents experiencing hardship for the first time. This would be extremely confronting.
I have heard that some parents are opting not to offer their kids the option of playing junior sport.
Costs associated with children’s sport can be high. Photo: Supplied.
Hayden Page is the manager of Child, Youth and Family Services at the Woden Community Service.
He is experiencing firsthand the issues facing parents in these tough economic times, sometimes hearing from parents for the first time.
“There’s a cohort in the community that falls through the gaps,” he said.
”Because they have been OK in the past, they are not sure how to access support or they are embarrassed to ask for support. It could be because of the loss of employment through COVID, a family breakdown or the rising cost of living, which includes transport costs. This is impacting on parents’ ability to put their kids into sport.
“We are definitely finding that after-hours activities for kids, such as music and sport, are impacting on costs for parents, and it has become one of the first things to drop off.”
I have spoken with several people involved in community groups and sport and there is a genuine concern about the impact the economy is having on the ability of parents to cover the cost of their children’s sport across the board.
This is significant given the role sport plays in the longitudinal development of kids. As well as providing respite for families and kids, there is also the family community aspect of being involved in a sports team.
If this is lost to those who need it most, it has the potential to impact a generation of kids.
Hayden said sports clubs in Canberra were doing all they could can to accommodate parents struggling to pay registrations for children’s sport, along with issues such as transportation to and from training and games.
It’s not as if sports clubs are flush at the moment either, with the cost of insurance, ground hire and equipment on the rise.
The Canberra community has shown in the past a capacity to help those in need, and it would appear that community generosity is now needed more than ever.
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