Last Tuesday we heard from Dayna Hyman, the Executive Director of KidSport in Edmonton. Dayna said that participation in sports can be a game change in a kid’s life as it gives them a sense of participation and belonging to their community. It can really help to overcome feelings of loneliness and isolation and has a ripple effect on their lives, families and schools. Sport can have a big part in making us who we are as adults and give us advantages that are well beyond what most people realize. It instills confidence, teamwork and persistence among other things.
KidSport helps kids living at or below the poverty line in Edmonton take part in forty different sports in the Edmonton community through partial payment of registration fees and also through the provision of sports equipment. They support all different types of sports such as hockey, dance, soccer, swimming, and many, many more through their All Kids Can Play grant program. The child must be registered to play the sport with qualified instructors. Their application process is a simple one page application that is then reviewed and if the family meets their requirements they send a cheque directly to the sport’s registrar. The amount to be funded can range up to two hundred fifty dollars per year per child. They work directly with many different sport associations around the city to encourage families who would qualify to apply for financial assistance to help pay for their children’s expenses. They also partner with Sport Central to supply pre-approved equipment.
KidSport Edmonton is part of a non-profit national organization that was founded in 1993 with the local group founded in 1995. Since that time KidSport Alberta has provided over eleven million dollars to support sixty-two thousand children in Alberta to play a season of sport. All funds raised in Edmonton stay in Edmonton to support local children and the local board can approve amounts spent in accordance with local costs for the various sports. Dayna said that KidSport has several ways that we can contribute and they also sponsor several fund raising events each year. This sounds like it would be a very worthwhile cause for us to consider.
