Parents may find themselves opening their wallets even wider to keep their kids involved in sports.

With provincial reductions in gaming grants, school and community sports programs will suffer, say athletics directors.

Juan de Fuca minor hockey is readying itself for the $65,000 loss this season. The money works out to about $100 less per player.

“We don’t qualify for (gaming money) this year,” said Dave Horner, JDF minor hockey president.

Registration fees are already about $600 per player and parents could be expected to make up for the additional costs, Horner said.

“We will either have to cut programs or charge more money. Playing hockey is already expensive enough,” Horner said. “If the program is cut then players will get even less ice time than they are getting now. Some of these kids are bound and determined to get to the NHL.”

JDF minor hockey is already scrambling for ice times to accommodate 650 young players. Hockey on the West Shore is so popular that the association had to turn players away last year.

While Horner agrees this is going to be a major issue this year, he knows it’s not just minor hockey that is affected by the cuts.

Students at Belmont secondary school will notice some changes in their extracurricular activities as well.

“We are hugely affected,” said Muzz Bryant, Belmont’s athletic director. “Our (gaming grant funding) has been cut in half.”

In previous years Belmont received about $65,000 from gaming grants for extracurricular actives including athletics. The money is used to fund transportation, traveling expenses and hiring referees, among other needs.

Extracurricular activities are more important to the school than some may think, Bryant said.

“To some students (sports) is the reason why they come to school,” Bryant said. “Not all sports are offered in the community.”

To make up for the funding losses, Bryant said the school with have to increase fundraising efforts or simply charge kids more money to participate.

All of Belmont’s team coaches are volunteers and have full time jobs, he said. “They don’t want to have to fundraise more. They give up so many hours already.”

Before the cutbacks, Belmont received about $20 per students from bingo revenues and another $20 per student from casino revenues, said Lloyd Powell, president of the Belmont athletics and extracurricular society.

With the provincial cutbacks, Powell said if a school receives bingo funding they it doesn’t qualify for casino money.

“Now every team, club and the music department will receive half of what they normally get,” Powell said. “There is going to be $33,000 less than we would need and that is going to have to picked up by the parents.”

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