Feds announce $38K to help equity-deserving kids pay for sports, dance programs in Waterloo Region

The federal government is injecting $38,000 into a local program that helps equity-deserving youth take part in sports and dance programs.

Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger and Kitchener South-Hespeler MP Valerie Bradford announced the funding boost Wednesday at RIM Park in Waterloo. Chagger said the money is part of $80-million in funding that was put aside in the 2021 federal budget to back organizations that promote access to organized sports across Canada.

"We have so many children whose families just don't have enough money," said John Cooper, the chair of KidSport KW.

"We have families that have lost jobs. We have new families coming from other countries who are starting out and know the importance of support for the kids. And then we have parents who just don't make enough money in the jobs that they do. And so they, these kids, need this support and it's really timely for the federal government to do this."

The money will help fund extracurricular activities for 150 kids across Waterloo Region through a local organization called KidSports KW.

Without the funding, Cooper said the parents of those kids would otherwise have not been able to afford the registration fees for local sports and dance programs.

"Right before COVID, we were helping almost 300 kids per year, and we were generating about $60,000 in revenue per year," he said.  

"But we were running out of money for two or three months, and so there were kids who we couldn't support. The more money we can raise, the more kids we can help."

More than funding is needed to bridge gaps

Cooper said through KidSport KW, kids will have access to 65 youth sport clubs and more than a dozen dance studios located across Waterloo Region.

One of the sports clubs kids will have the choice to join is the KW Youth Basketball Association.

Mike Quigley, the association's executive administrator and a volunteer coach, said reliable funding is only the first step to bridging gaps for equity-deserving youth.

"We give them the opportunity for their parents to apply to KidSport for funding, but in a lot of the cases, the parents don't understand what they're doing," he said.

"I've had a number of players play for me and I have no idea who their parents are. I've never seen them. I go to their house or their complex and I pick them up and drive them to practice, to games, to home."

Cooper said the families that have signed up to receive funding through KidSport KW will see a notable boost in benefits as well.

"We were providing up to $300 per year per child, and now we've just increased that to $400 per year because of this grant and because of some other fundraising events that have occurred this year," he said. 

Cooper said any parent on social assistance or disability support, for example, will not have to provide any financial information to be eligible for the program, adding they have their own process to determine the eligibility of families that approach them for help.