Following years of declining membership numbers in minor hockey, Hamilton taxpayers are going to take one on the chin to keep hockey affordable.
The city will pay for 64 per cent of the cost of subsidized rink rentals this year, 14 per cent more than the usual 50-50 split of ice rentals for minor hockey, figure skating and ringette in the city.
'We don't want vacant ice sitting there'- Steve Sevor, manager of sport and development with the City of Hamilton
The move, outlined in the 2015 schedule for user fees, due back in council in two weeks, will prevent rink rental rates from ballooning 17 per cent in one year. It's meant to combat a combination of declining sport membership that means many hours of ice time aren't being rented, aging rinks and increasing costs to keep them operating.
"We know that our ice users just can't absorb that kind of increase, not in one year," said Bryan Ozorio, the director of city wide services with the city's recreation department.
50-50 split of ice costs tips to 64-36
To keep up with current costs, the full rink rate of $264.78 per hour would have to be increased by 17 per cent, or up $45.01 to $309.79. Minor hockey, figure skating and ringette pay half that rate. The recreation department is recommending a 3 per cent increase, as well as slight changes to when youth associations can purchase a subsidized rate to offset the costs. Anything higher, would make city costs uncompetitive with the market, the report says.
"We don't want vacant ice sitting there," added Steve Sevor, the city's manager of sport development.
In September, the city made it easier for youth associations to buy subsidized ice to try to get more hours used. It removed a rule that the subsidized ice had to be bought in a large block at the start of the season. Now, associations can buy additional ice as they go at the subsidized rate.
Declines in demand for ice, and registered users
An oversupply of ice is a problem Hamilton, like other cities, has only had in recent years with declining memberships to minor hockey and other youth user groups. In the past five years alone, the Hamilton Hockey Council has lost 766 players, or 16 per cent.
As a whole, since 2008 there has been a 7.4 per cent drop in demand, freeing up 2,826 hours a year at municipal rinks.
The city is counting on more kids playing to pay for the rinks. In the September report, staff estimated they would increase their hours sold by 20 per cent with the move.
'I'm not sure how much more ice we could buy' - Minor hockey head
But minor hockey, according to Gerry Potter, the chair of the Hamilton Minor Hockey Council, is already at a limit of purchasing ice.
"I'm not sure how much more ice we could buy," Potter said, adding that the times that are available make it tough to buy more time.
The 6 a.m. practices have been taken off the schedule in recent years, Potter said. Most rinks don't open until 7 a.m.
"Parents don't want that (6 a.m. ice) today," Potter said.
Potter and city staffers both agreed that the largest decline in minor hockey, which Ozorio says "drives" demand for ice, was in the lower city.
Ozorio and Potter attributed the drop to the changing demographics and lower income bracket compared to areas like Ancaster and the Mountain.
In recent years, three lower city hockey associations – Scott Park, Eastwood and Parkdale – have all folded.
Hamilton's Minor Hockey Council had six new registered players this year, something Potter deemed a success of their Initiation Program targeted to low income families and new Canadians, which trains four, five and six-year-old children on the basics of the game.
The city, meanwhile, has been promoting hockey with the Boys & Girls Club and the Hamilton Bulldogs through the Skate the Dream program, aimed at six- to 10-year-olds. It covers almost all costs and equipment for roughly 100 kids a season. While it's going into it's seventh year, Potter said the drop in minor hockey registration has levelled off.
"It's a challenge," Potter said. "But we're not unique in that aspect."
Ozorio said there is no plan to make up for the 14 per cent shortfall of the actual cost of ice rentals, to return the true cost of rink rentals to a 50-50 split. He said the cost of rentals would continue to be evaluated on a year by year basis.
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