Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi, it's Steve Vintage at sport law. Leave me a message. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: Hey Steve, it's Dena. You aren't going to believe what just came across my desk. We need to chat. Give me a call.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: Welcome to the latest this episode of Sportopia. We're so excited to share our knowledge and have conversation about healthy human sport.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: This week we have special guests Angela Crowther and Caitlin Ramage from Kidsport BC. Angela is a marketing and fundraising professional with a passion for sport and community impact. She brings her personal experience as a former high performance athlete in the sport of softball and for 15 years in the nonprofit sector to her current role as director of Kids Sport BC, where she is focusing on providing opportunities for under resourced kids to participate in organized sport. Welcome. And then we also have Caitlin Ramage. Caitlin is the operations manager at Kidsport BC. Her primary role is to support families applying for support through BC's provincial fund. Caitlin is also a high performance athlete still training and competing in Racewalk. She embodies the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to access and participate in sport. We're so delighted to have the two of you here, and before we jump in and discuss all the amazing things about this incredible program. Steve, what's coming across your desk this week?
[00:01:50] Speaker A: I always like to look at my calendar and see what's happening this week. And I've got two topics. One is I have a meeting tomorrow with a client to discuss executive limitations, and it's a document that defines the role of the CEO and the executive director. And rather than a job description, it's actually all the authority that the CEO or executive director does not have. So they're responsible for everything except for what's listed in that document, which usually vests with the responsibility of the board. You would think it would be a document that we would be working on more frequently, and unfortunately, it's not. And I think that also ties into my next part of the conversations about governance and policy interpretation. And again, looking at my calendar this week, it's not a lot of drafting policy. It's helping organizations and individuals understand the implementation of policy, how to use the policy, how to follow the policy, what steps are required. And I've said this on several podcasts before, being an executive director or CEO or a staff person in sport was probably a lot simpler 20 years ago than it is today. When we talk about all the different policies that are required and then having the knowledge and the expertise to implement them is challenging. So those are the two things that I'm working on this week. How about you, Dina?
[00:03:13] Speaker B: Well, it's actually a good bridge to some of the things that I'm tracking. Steve, it's interesting you talk about executive limitations, and I am going to go out on a limb and say that I suspect that in the next three to four years, these executive limitations will become more common practice. And, of course, we see that in for profits or not for profits, who are maybe a little bit more advanced in their delineation between governance, the work of the board, and the senior staff, who are responsible, typically, for the operations. And so what I'm tracking right now is I am seeing the kind of conversation that really makes my heart sing more. National sport and MSos in Sport Canada are starting to, I think, align their thinking around how do we elevate good governance through a shared understanding and these commitments to these principles that we can codify so that we have clarity of what does a good board do? What are the expectations of staff? How do we ensure that the directors have the knowledge and the confidence they need to be informed directors. And how do boards work in allyship with the staff towards that common purpose? And too often now I'm seeing overreach by a lot of the boards, right, who want to get into not necessarily the what, because good boards want to shape what are we here to focus on? But they have opinions about how things should be done, and that really is the domain of the staff. So, to counter that, you know, sport law created this amazing program that we've been delivering now through a collaboration with the CCES called governance essentials. And one of the things that I'm doing now, Steve, is when people bring me in to do governance training, I make it a requirement that the directors take governance essentials, and I do that because, a, it's less expensive for them. They don't have to spend an hour of my time teaching them about what they can learn through governance essentials. And number two, the quality of the conversation spikes, because now they have access to fundamental knowledge and maybe a shared framing of these key governance principles. So it de escalates things, it gives people a framework to have these conversations, and it helps them start to think about, yeah, like, what are we doing really well? And then what are some of the areas of improvement? So, yeah, that's what I've been focusing on this past week. So, very excited now to turn our attention and welcome our guest here on today's Sportopia. So, Angela, let's start with you. Tell us what is coming across your desk this week and maybe introduce yourself a little bit more, like something above and beyond what I've already shared. Anything fun that you want to share with our listeners?
[00:06:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Hi, Dina and Steve. Thanks so much for having us today. I'm Angela Crowther. I'm the director at Kidsport BC. I'm, like you said, a former high performance softball player athlete, but played a bunch of sports all through high school. I think, you know, getting access and trying lots of different sports is really important. I also come from a parent perspective, so I'm the parent of two, two very active athletes as well, kids who are involved in sport. But here at Kidsport, a lot of my focus is really on kind of marketing and fundraising through our BC provincial office, and I also oversee and support the 200 plus volunteers who are operating our kidsport chapters across the province.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: That's amazing. Well, I love, you know, from being an elite athlete, you know, the parent of very active athletes, to now focusing on an organization who's making sport possible for people who otherwise might not be able to have access to sport. So I think that's amazing. What about you, Caitlin?
[00:07:06] Speaker C: Welcome.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: What's coming across your desk?
[00:07:08] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:09] Speaker D: So a little bit more about me. I am also a high performance athlete in track and field, and my entry into sport was quite different than maybe some, some other athletes or for Angela, I was actually a kid sport grant recipient. So I grew up in a single parent household on income assistance. So sport was never really accessible to me through my younger, my younger years until I got into high school. I had a family in my high school who was very well versed in kids sport and suggested applying to them so I can continue competing in track and field. And I am so grateful they did. I've competed in university. I've competed for Team Canada at the Pan Am Games, and then now here on the flip side, at Kidsport, BC, as the operations manager, really overseeing granting across the province, but in particular focus into our provincial fund, which supports all the communities across BC that don't have a local chapter.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: That's wonderful. Lei. Steve, when we see the benefits that sport can know, help make possible, and then we have people like you on, on the show that are talking about, you know, the kinds of things that we know sport can do when, when it helps to create flourishing for people. So delighted to have the two of you here. Over to you, Steve.
[00:08:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: Angela, I'll start with you. Can you tell me a little bit about the foundation of Kidsport? Why was it created? What is the intent behind it. And how does the organization support people?
[00:08:30] Speaker C: Yeah, so Kidsport Sport was actually founded right here in British Columbia by sport BC 30 years ago. Now, we celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2023. And really, the organization was founded as a way to help support sport BC members access, you know, a new population of families who maybe otherwise wouldn't be able to afford sport. The skills that kids can learn through sport are really carried with them throughout their lives. But unfortunately, right across Canada, really, there's kids that are being left on the sidelines because they don't have the resources to play. And that's where kids sport comes in. So we provide grants or funding for kids 18 and under that are from families that are facing financial barriers. And those funds help to cover the cost of those sport registration fees. And one of the cornerstones, and really great thing, I think, about our program is that the whole application process is confidential. So really, it's just the applicant family who's applying, the local kids sport chapter they're applying to, and then typically an administrator or a registrar at the local club who are aware of the application, so that by the time the child makes it to the team environment or on the field, you know, they're getting the same experience, the same benefits as all of the other kids that are there, you know, despite the fact that maybe they needed some financial assistance to participate.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: Angela, just as a follow up question, is there a distinguishment between recreational sport and high performance? Is the funding the same, or is there a variance between the two?
[00:10:00] Speaker C: I mean, our core focus, we are a grassroots organization, so a lot of our focus really is on that grassroots sport level and getting kids at that entry level involved in sport. Each chapter sets a maximum grant amount per child per calendar year. So for us at the provincial office and for many chapters across the province, it's dollar 400 per child per calendar year. So when you look at high performance, that doesn't go very far for a lot of sports. And so we're not the solution for everyone, necessarily, but we are looking at how we can get, especially those younger entry level kids, really involved in sport and finding that love for the activity.
[00:10:35] Speaker B: I love that story. And Caitlin, for you, maybe closer to home, right, you were recipient of a kid sport grant, and maybe tell us a little bit more about how that changed your life.
[00:10:48] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:49] Speaker D: So I was really fortunate to have school teachers throughout elementary school and high school that encouraged me into sport. I never realized at that age, of course, the biggest barrier for me to get there and to do more sport was money and looking back now, I really don't know what my life would be like without the opportunities that weren't provided, whether it was the opportunities I've had in sport and competing across the world or just being able to go to something like university, which was not a reality for anyone else ever in my family. So, yeah, it's opened a lot of doors.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: I can feel that. And I'm wondering now maybe there are some stories of some children and youth that have benefited from the investment and opening up a door. Right. That's what you were speaking to. That when sport is really healthy, it can create extraordinary opportunities for people. It kind of levels the playing field, in a way. Are there any stories that jump out at you right now of the impact that you've had and that you want to share with some of our listeners?
[00:11:49] Speaker D: Yeah, we do have a gymnastics club that's supported through our provincial fund. And we had the owner or lead of the organization reach out to us and just share the gratitude that she sees on the family's faces when they get the funds in their account as the club. And they know, and those families now know that they continue participating in gymnastics. And just a sense of relief, the tears of excitement that they get. And those. That's just one small story. We are fortunate that we do get to hear from some families who really do share their gratitude of everything that we are able to do at kidsport.
[00:12:23] Speaker B: What about you, Angela? Anything else to add?
[00:12:25] Speaker C: Yeah, I think just to add to that, we do. We're fortunate to hear from a number of families who do benefit from the support, and we. It's not. I think some people have an idea of what those families look like, but families come to us for all sorts of reasons. So we have some that are facing short term financial barriers. Maybe there's been a job loss in the family. Unfortunately, we've heard from some families where there's been a death of a parent, and that creates a really significant need for perhaps a short period of time. And then there's also those families that have a more persistent need, who are just struggling, you know, with affordability of everything. We also support a number of indigenous children and youth. New Canadians is a large population, so families that are new to Canada just trying to get settled, accessing programs like ours, we see a lot of those families who require support, and then another population, we support our athletes with disability. And so just looking to increase participation among those populations that tend to be underrepresented in our sport environments and providing those opportunities for them.
[00:13:27] Speaker A: Angela, in your introduction you mentioned about 200 volunteers. Two part question. So what are those volunteers doing? And then maybe if you could speak to retention. We are continually hearing across the sports sector, the volunteer network is diminishing. People don't stick around as long as they used to.
What are your thoughts on those two questions?
[00:13:50] Speaker C: Yeah, it's really a double sided coin. So we're very fortunate, I believe, you know, there's over 200 volunteers, and most of those volunteers are operating those local kids sport chapters. So they have volunteer committees who are overseeing local chapters across the province. And their role really is to act as their own mini kids sport charity in their community. So they would accept applications from families in the local community. They distribute funds to support local kids, and then they're also fundraising in those local communities as well to ensure that they have the funds to continue granting. And so we are inspired daily by, you know, a lot of those people who have, it's really an almost like a part time job for them, the amount of time that they're putting in. And so many of them have been in those roles for 1015, even 20 years. And so at the same time, the flip side of that, and I mean, both Caitlin and I have been to your hope on the horizon tour. We've heard you talk about sport 2.0, and I think there's a lot of parallels to the things that you talk about, you know, in the sport environment. We're seeing it as well with volunteerism related to kids sport, where, you know, we have that retention of those people who have been involved for a long time but have struggled a little bit with recruitment and retaining those new volunteers. And so we are very much in a bit of an evolution, I would say, with kids board, of looking at how we manage the program, still wanting to maintain those local connections with the local volunteers, but looking at ways that we can offload some of the administrative burden of them, you know, operating those kidsport chapters, but still, you know, have their support to support local kids and have those boots on the ground, if you will, in those local communities across the province. It's definitely a challenge that we're, you know, Caitlin and I are spending a lot of time brainstorming and trying to tackle to make sure that we're, the program is sustainable for another 30 years into the future and making sure that the kids across the province are still getting their support that they need.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: I'm imagining that a lot of those volunteers, if they're anything like some of the other ones that we're spending time with, they don't actually want to do all this administrivia that is like, soul sucking work for them. What they want to do is roll up their sleeve and raise money. Right. It's so much easier for them to do, like, if we can remember that a lot of the next generation of volunteers, they just don't have the luxury of time to be able to devote. So if it's a more project based thing, I think you're bang on, Angela, to, like, follow that thread. I'm curious, how many. How many recipients have you had over your 30 year span? How many children have you positively impact over the lifespan?
[00:16:29] Speaker C: Yeah, maybe I'll speak to the cumulative ones and then, Caitlin, maybe you want to speak to the 2023 numbers and just the trends now.
[00:16:35] Speaker B: But.
[00:16:35] Speaker C: So, since KidSport was first established in British Columbia back in 1993, I think now given, you know, adding in the 2023 totals, we funded over 88,000 kids across the province to the tune of $22 million in funding, which is. Which is pretty unbelievable. You know, when you think about how many opportunities that's provided, and not every. There's been some really great success stories where athletes have gone on to become, you know, professional soccer players. Joel Waterman is. He plays in the MLS for Montreal FC. He was a former kid, sport kid. There's some. Been some really great success stories, but that's not really the goal of our program. We're just looking to provide opportunities for kids, and it's been a really special experience to be involved for the last few years in the program and just see the impact that it does have. And Caitlin, maybe you want to add just what we're seeing now from a granting perspective over the last year or so.
[00:17:28] Speaker D: Yeah, the granting across the province has probably grown quicker than we thought it maybe would after the pandemic, as so many families are returning to sport. And also, on the flip side, just so many families, as Angela outlined before, are feeling that the pinches of inflation and rising interest rates and just the cost of everything going up. So, in 2023, across BC, there was 7742 grants approved for $2.6 million, which is the most funds dispersed in history for here in BC, which is. Angela, I think I'm right on this 40% increase across the province compared to 2022. And our BC provincial fund, which supports over 100 communities across BC each year without a local chapter, we supported over 100 communities, over 1100 kids for $373,000.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: Incredible. I see.
[00:18:22] Speaker C: Yeah, we're based here in British Columbia, but KidSport is a national organization as well, and so the trends that we're seeing here in BC are similar. We're seeing those same trends of upwards for grant applications and funding out the door right across the country. So it's not unique for us here on the west coast. There's families in need right across. Right across Canada.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: It is music to our ears, Dina, to hear people having opportunities participate in sport, which is one of the things that motivates us to continue to work in sport. I have another two part question. Maybe it's for both of you, but one is, you mentioned the number of applicants that are coming in, and it's been a significant increase, probably post COVID. Number one is, do you have enough money?
[00:19:05] Speaker C: Well, so far we had, you know, we were able to fund those applications that were eligible in 2023. I think that the idea of fundraising and funding is something that's very top of mind for us at the provincial office and for many of the volunteers who are running those chapters across the province. Just the rate of growth over the past year and even, you know, so far, the applications, the rate of applications we're seeing so far, just this calendar year already, we're tracking even ahead of where we were last year. And so we are a donor funded organization. You know, I think there's a bit of a misconception that Kidsport is a government program. We do receive some funding through our provincial government, but it's, you know, we are a separate program and we are. We do rely on donor funding, and so we're always looking for ways that we can, you know, increase the funding that we have available. You know, there's the funding that we have, that kind of funds, the basics of what we're doing now, but even more donations allows us either to increase our maximum grant amount, we know that sport fees are going up, and being able to, you know, if we have more funding, we're able to, one, keep up with the increase in applications we're seeing. Two, maybe we're able to provide more funding per child, per calendar year that helps offset those costs. And the other part of our eligibility is, you know, we have some financial eligibility where we use the low income cutoffs from Statistics Canada. And so more funding might allow us to broaden those kind of limits and those eligibility, that eligibility criteria to help more families be eligible for the support. And so the limits are really endless. We're always looking for more funding. It's just really important, we think, to be able to provide that support for families.
[00:20:47] Speaker A: Thanks, Angela. I'm going to direct the second part of my question. To you, Caitlin, because as a recipient, is the knowledge out there for people to apply? So are you relying on clubs and provincial sport bodies and territorial sport bodies to get the message out to follow, find people who need the support of kids sport? Or is it, how do people know about it? Is it individual based? Is it club communicated how?
[00:21:15] Speaker D: Yeah, it's definitely a little bit of everything that you just shared there. I mean, we definitely do rely on our clubs and our provincial sport organizations as well to make sure their clubs are aware, the clubs that are supported through the provincial fund. I mean, it's always continual communication to make sure that they know that that is an option for them. Also connecting with other like minded agencies in the community, whether it be community servicing agencies, newcomer associations, things like that, who are often working with families who would benefit from programs like kidsport. And as well, I've been seeing a lot more as well, of people hearing about the program and sharing it amongst their peers or their colleagues or their friends circles, especially in the smaller communities. Word of mouth is really significant.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Thank you so much for sharing. You know, the impact that you're having. You mentioned, of course, that kid sport is pan canadian. So how many other provinces and territories have a version of kid sport in their jurisdiction?
[00:22:16] Speaker C: There's operations in eleven different provinces and territories right across the country, I think somewhere in the neighborhood, and the number keeps changing, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 160 local chapters across the country as well. And so, yes, there's great work being done in all of the provinces and kind of being led by mostly by provincial sport federations across the country. In those provinces.
[00:22:38] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what I was going to ask. Do you get together once a year and change and talk about good practices and ways you can work better together to address some of this?
[00:22:48] Speaker C: Yeah, that's what's nice. We are part of that national network, so we do have a national leadership team. We meet actually once a month, virtually to talk about things that are happening from a national perspective and just sharing information. And then we do have an annual kids work conference where we all get together in person and again, kind of talk about, you know, the challenges everyone is facing and how we can work together to make the kids work program that much better for kids moving forward.
[00:23:14] Speaker B: So maybe take us there. If people are listening and they want to make a difference, what would be some of the things that you would hope that they would do? How can they help kids sport grow?
[00:23:25] Speaker C: Yeah, I think Caitlin sort of touched on it. One of the ways I think people can help is just tell someone in your circle about kids sport, especially if this is the first time we've been around for a long time and we have relatively good brand recognition, but I don't know if everyone really understands what our role is and what we do. And so, especially if this is your first time learning about kidsport, chances are there's someone else in your circle who could benefit from knowing about what we do, whether that means that they're applying for support because they need a little, you know, kind of a hand up in terms of financial support, or maybe they're able to support our work and they want to get involved in what Kidsport does. I mentioned that we're, you know, greatly reliant on donations, and so, you know, if you're able to. To donate, the website is Kidsport, CA. One of the really nice benefits, I think, of the program, and what really speaks to people is the ability to direct your donation hyper local. So, you know, you're not kind of donating to some national slush fund. You're really able to select your province, select your local kidsport chapter, and then for, you know, those provincial funds as well, you know, don't underestimate those, because people like Caitlin are doing great work to support kids. Where those provincial funds go is they support those kids in the communities that don't have a local chapter. And so there's, like Caitlin said, over 100 communities we're supporting through our chapter, really, here at Kidsport, BC. And so those donations have an impact as well. And then I guess, just finally, you know, thinking about a lot of workplaces, you have, you know, different initiatives where they have the opportunity to select a charity of choice. And so just thinking about Kidsport, either through your workplace initiative or maybe an event that you host, like I said, a lot of the chapters are volunteer run, and they don't have a lot of capacity to be running large events. And so if there's an opportunity to select kids board as a charity of choice and direct part of the funding, or all of the funding from your event to support your local chapter, we very much appreciate it, and we're happy to support, however we can, those initiatives.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: That's amazing. Thank you, Angela. Anything. Any last words from you, Caitlin, before we say goodbye?
[00:25:31] Speaker D: Angela always says it all. I'm all good.
[00:25:34] Speaker B: Well, you know, one thing that you said earlier, maybe before we joined, was everything that is done is done and held in confidence and with deep respect for the people that are coming to kids board to help children have access to good, quality sports.
So really I'm so grateful that you were confident and open enough to share. You're a prime example of why this works. So thank you so much for sharing. Steve. Any other final comments before?
[00:26:03] Speaker A: I'm just motivated. I mean, I never received a kid sport grand, and to be quite blunt, I didn't need one and had had sport accessible to me growing up. But I do know how important sport has been to me as a child, as a young adult, and now as a professional. So to see the opportunities being to provide it to people who may not have normal access to that is really inspiring. And really, that's why we do what we do in different hats here on the podcast today. But really, that's what motivates me. I know a lot of us, Dina at sport law, are motivated by it, and I probably shared this before. I remember one time I was doing a lot of work in my office, looking at a computer and kind of lose sight of the field, the field of play, and going to a soccer meeting. Once there was timbit soccer going on next door, and it wasn't great quality soccer, but it was lots of little kids running around. And it just reminds you of why we do this. So for me, this session was really inspirational. And Angela and Caitlin, I want to thank you for your time to share what you're doing and hopefully will motivate a whole bunch of people to make some donations and volunteer their time and to keep doing the great work that you're doing.
[00:27:17] Speaker B: Well, you know, the last thing maybe I'll share is look what $400 can do, right? So don't underestimate how all of us working together can make such a significant impact. And so thank you for that. And you're part of a series, you know, we call it, let's make examples of exemplars. So, from the team at sport law, thank you for being exemplars, sharing your story and your passion for quality sport, what we call true sport. One of the principles of true sport is giving back, and this is one way that they can do that. So thank you so much for your time and your energy, your passion and your commitment. In the episode notes below, you're going to find some sport law blogs where you can find more information related to our conversation today.
[00:28:05] Speaker A: Thank you so much to our listeners. We are so grateful to share our vision of Sportopia with you and to elevate sport. As always, to have your say in Sportopia, email us at Helloportlaw, CA or on social media at Sportlawca to let us know what you want to hear about next. Thank you, everyone, and stay tuned for our next episode.
