Lyle Abbott, provincial manager of KidSport Ontario, visited Rainy River District last week offering the opportunity to launch local chapters in Fort Frances, Emo, and Rainy River.
Speaking to residents in each community, Abbott explained that the charitable program raises money to help disadvantaged children play organized sport and that local chapters distribute grants to kids in need to help pay for registration fees and equipment costs.
“It’s about giving children an equal chance to participate in sports—not about creating Olympians,” Abbott noted last Thursday morning at the Emo municipal office.
“If they do have the opportunity to take it further, that’s great, but we’re focused on getting kids off the couch and building self-esteem,” he stressed.
KidSport is a grassroots program with national exposure. It began in British Colombia in 1993 and now runs coast-to-coast in 11 of the country’s provinces and territories.
Ontario took on the program in 2000 and now has 22 chapters, but Abbott noted he is permitted to establish an additional 15 by the end of 2008.
“Although this is my first time in the northwest, I feel this area is equally important as the other parts of the province,” he remarked, adding it’s imperative to bring KidSport to the rural areas.
“If you look, most professional athletes didn’t come from the large cities,” Abbott said. “And this program belongs in the small communities that don’t have the opportunities of the larger centres.”
He explained the local chapters would be run by community volunteers with support from the provincial office, and would be able to adapt their own policies to meet their specific needs.
For example, some chapters have offered to assist children outside of the community’s jurisdiction while others have decided to help only those in their area.
“It’s their choice as long as they’re keeping within the concept of the program,” Abbott remarked.
He asked those gathered in Emo to identify some of the needs of the community.
They indicated with more young families in the area, facilities are being under-utilized because the cost of participating, equipment, and transportation is rising.
“People don’t want to ask for help, especially in a small towns where people know who they are,” Abbott conceded. “Through KidSport, the application process is done in a private and confidential manner.
“So when the child goes to register for a sport, they line up with everyone else.
“We’re focusing on the child, but ultimately helping the parent,” he stressed.
Abbott added a local chapter will receive support from the provincial office with launch materials, seed money, and administrative supplies (posters, pamphlets, brochures, etc.)
They also will receive an equal share of the funds raised in national campaigns and grant funds from KidSport provincially and nationally.
He explained a chapter wouldn’t have to fund raise, but it would limit the number of kids they can help.
“The money raised in the community stays in the community,” he noted.
Abbott highlighted four strategies of a KidSport chapter:
•awareness and advocacy;
•fund and program development;
•local chapter development and servicing; and
•KidSport official sports grants.
He said one way to promote KidSport in a community would be to hold The KidSport FunZone—an interactive sport event where kids of all ages have the opportunity to try out different sports.
“There are actually 82 different recognized sports to get involved in,” Abbott said. “And while you might not have the all available here, some kids don’t realize that there is more than just hockey and soccer.
“And the FunZone gives them a chance to [try] some of them.”
Abbott said to run a local chapter, about five-10 volunteers are needed with three main committees: a management committee, a fund committee, and an adjudication committee.
Those in Emo worried about finding the volunteers to launch a KidSport chapter there and asked whether a Rainy River District chapter would be beneficial.
Abbott suggested since Fort Frances is much larger than some of the other communities, a stigma could develop that all the funds are staying there and not being distributed evenly.
With more chapters, on the other hand, they would have more money to help more kids.
In wanting all children in the district to have the opportunity to play sports, the Emo residents proposed the most favourable way to develop KidSport chapters in the district would be to operate them in Emo, Fort Frances, and Rainy River.
They hoped Rainy River would cover Morley and Lake of the Woods and Fort Frances would cover Alberton, while Emo could help La Vallee, Chapple, and Rainy River First Nations.
Abbott asked the communities to present the information to their respective councils to seek their support, then determine whether to go ahead with establishing chapters in the district.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
