Hockey, ringette associations worry still-rising costs will keep players away

The still-rising cost of running ice-based sports like minor hockey and ringette means they may become more exclusive, some Ottawa sports bodies warn.

According to Kari Stachon, registrar for the City of Ottawa Ringette Association (CORA), registration fees for children wanting to play the sport are between $120 and $155 more expensive than they were in 2019-20.

Parents now have to fork over up to $750 per child in the under-19 category to enrol them with CORA for the coming year. 

"Families that are already struggling with the high cost of inflation — this could affect them and they may not be able to return this year, and I wish there was something we could do," she said.

Still, Stachon said this year's hike in registration fees is necessary to offset increasing costs to the association.

She noted the organization had been operating at a deficit for the last two years "in our attempts to keep things low and keep people in the sport," but that's no longer viable.

How much it costs to play these sports and the role that plays in stalling registration has been a problem for leagues for years.

Stachon said the rising cost of renting ice rinks, an increase in wages mandated for referees and a hike in insurance payments and fees paid to Ringette Ontario are together "putting quite a bit of pressure" on the organization. 

In particular, the cost of renting ice rinks has increased by 14.5 per cent and the cost for referees has increased by 39 per cent since 2019-20, according to Stachon. 

Ringette Ontario did not respond to CBC's request for comment on the increased referee wages by publishing time. 

Renting ice becoming more expensive

Stachon said the thing bringing costs up the most is the price of renting ice.

"Even a small change in the price of ice is going to balloon when you consider it across our full season."

According to the City of Ottawa, the hourly rate for renting rinks from the city for minor users like CORA was $195.54 (including HST) in 2019. It will cost over $20 more for September to December 2023.

A memo from the city obtained by CBC News addressed to sports organizations shows those rates will go up again starting in January by about $4. 

Despite CBC's requests for comment, the city has not explained why rink rental fees have been raised.

In an emailed statement, recreation, cultural and facility services general manager Dan Chenier said the rates were decided and approved by city council under this year's budget. 

"We anticipated a cost increase [for 2023]. We didn't anticipate the second one," said Helen Tyson, president of Nepean Minor Hockey Association (NMHA).

Tyson explained thatrental cost is the "most significant expense" for the organization — last year, NMHA saw a bill of over $1,000,000 from the city. She added that this year, NMHA is also facing an increase in costs for paying referees. 

'We've been impacted by COVID … our [participant] numbers have declined. However, our costs keep going up," she said. 

'A sport for the well-off'

NMHA will not be increasing its registration fees for the coming year, Tyson said. 

"We feel that hockey is becoming a sport for the well-off and we had already increased our rates going into 2022-23 after COVID, so we just didn't want to," she said.

To avoid hiking registration fees, Tyson said the NMHA is eliminating paid timekeepers for some games and training parents to do the job instead. 

 "We tried to work out our budget so that those costs weren't going to be passed on to our players this year, but that's just this year," she said. "If ice costs go up, which I predict they will … then I suspect our registration costs will have to go up as well." 

Tyson added, "We're kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel, so to speak. There's really not much more we can cut to keep those costs low." 

Still, Tyson said she's disheartened by the idea of the sport becoming more expensive. 

"You're looking at probably $1,200 to $1,500 a player [per year], when you account for team fees and equipment and the cost of registration. That's just not attainable for families anymore," she explained. 

She added that financial support options for children wanting to play the sport are few, further prohibiting participation. 

"It's such a great community and such a wonderful sport for these kids to be participating in, and to feel like it might become an exclusive activity … it's really hard to to swallow."