Inflation hitting Saskatoon parents from the dance studios and soccer fields

People looking to put their kids in extracurriculars are feeling this pinch this year as the rising cost of facilities and staffing gets passed on to parents.

Trilogy Academy of Baton and Dance opened a year ago, and the owners say managing their increased costs has been a tricky dance move to pull off.

“We had to do a lot of research in terms of inflation and with rising costs and costs with the construction of our building,” said Zoe Vassos, co-owner of Trilogy Academy.

“Rising costs are definitely impacting everybody in all aspects of life,” said Vassos, who’s been involved in Saskatoon’s dance community for 17 years.

She says they’re trying to get creative to keep from passing the burden onto families.

“We have a cap on fees, so if you go into the program, you get capped pricing as well as some sibling discounts,” she says.

Saskatoon youth soccer is feeling the pressure too, but they’ve managed to keep fees fairly consistent over the past five years.

Prices for kids to play soccer have only gone up about $15 in that time according to Amanda Probe, Executive Director of Saskatoon Youth Soccer.

“Inflation has definitely affected our rental fees and refereeing and staff wages for cost-of-living increases,” Probe says.

Soccer has gained a lot of popularity in Canada, and equipment costs are low compared to other sports.

Probe says the fact that it’s a global sport is also a huge factor.

“A lot of new Canadians have come to Saskatoon in the last few years and it’s been increasing every year and it is a world sport,” she says.

Saskatoon Minor Hockey SMHA is seeing more players this year even though the cost to play has gone up.

“Our fees went up an average of 2.5% this year, mainly due to the cost of ice rentals increasing. Overall registration numbers are up over last season and are higher than pre-Covid numbers,” SMHA Executive Director Kelly Boes told CTV News.

Groups like Kids Sport offer some help paying for fees and equipment, but those amounts are capped. Some sports like soccer have their own financial aid.

“All our zone members and community association member have a fund in place to help subsidize fees where there are economic challenges for certain families,” Probe says.

Back at the Trilogy studio, they’re doing their part and making every effort to give kids a creative and positive outlet.

“We know that kids’ activities and giving your children something important and valuable to keep them busy is very important, so it was big for us to make sure that we could find ways to make that feasible,” Vassos said.