Town council agreed to lower the rental cost of the Olds Sports Complex for Olds Minor Lacrosse at its meeting on March 28. The rate was lowered to $44 per hour from the current $63.
Officials with the association requested the reduction after approaching administration about the fees in Olds being the highest in the league. While the numbers of players involved with the association has risen from about 65 two years ago to 110 this year, the registration fee has increased.
“The decision will impact the association tremendously because it'll create an opening for a lot of kids that really can't afford it right now. We had to raise the price of our registration fee this year to accommodate what they were charging us for the floor,” said Gary Gaudet, president of Olds Minor Lacrosse.
Olds Minor Lacrosse takes in players aged four to 21. Currently, the association pays the highest non-ice youth rate among eight Central Alberta municipalities in Mountain View and Red Deer counties.
“Hopefully, (this decision) will grow (registration) even more,” Gaudette said.
Olds Minor Lacrosse had budgeted for 240 hours of floor time including practices and games, for 2011and budgeted for a loss of $165, down from a loss of $340 last year.
In making the recommendation to council, Barbara Hill, director of community services, noted that prior to the decision being taken, youth lacrosse was paying 64 per cent of the adult floor rental rate, whereas minor hockey was paying 45 per cent of the adult rate for ice. She also noted that Bowden, the closest community to Olds, charged a non-ice rate of $42 for youth.
“The difference between the rates is significant enough to make travelling outside of the community a potentially attractive option for parents and organizers of this activity,” Hill wrote in background information provided to councillors.
In making the decision, council lowered the youth rate to $44 per hour — meaning minor lacrosse would pay 45 per cent of the adult non-ice rate, the same percentage that minor hockey pays vis-à-vis adult ice rates.
The Community Services department is currently undertaking a review of all rates charged for recreational facilities and comparing them to similar rates charged in other Central Alberta municipalities. It's hoped the review can be completed by the end of October to coincide with budget deliberations that will likely take place at the end of November or early December.
Mayor Judy Dahl said council wanted to make sure that the rates charged for different groups (for example youth hockey and youth lacrosse) are consistent for all users and she felt a good decision was made pending the rate review.
“Once our community services department looked at that, we did realize that the rates were a little high so until our schedules are done, we did agree to a temporary rate decrease,” she said.
"The decision will impact the association tremendously because it'll create an opening for a lot kids that really can't afford it right now."Gary Gaudette, president, Olds Minor Lacrosse
