Last Monday, the Inuvik Minor Hockey Association (IMHA) brought forth several issues to town council.
There is no dressing room for female hockey players, ice availability was delayed two weeks and increasing user fees may eventually make playing hockey unaffordable for youth.
It now costs youth $60 an hour plus GST to use the ice at the arena in the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex, which is $10 more than it cost two years ago.
Inuvik Mayor Jim McDonald said user fees didn't increase at all from 2004 to 2014, and now the increases are being calculated to bring the rates in line with where they would be if they had been raised annually at the estimated rate of inflation of three per cent.
Rather than a three per cent increase every year, which would have amounted to an increase of between one to three dollars a year over 10 years, the fees are instead increasing by $5 every year until 2022.
By 2022, the youth rate for an hour of ice time will be $75 plus GST.
For a sport that is already expensive, these increases are significant.
IMHA president Carolyn Hunter said if the association has to continue raising their fees to minor hockey players because of the increased ice time fees, the sport will prevent some youth from participating.
Hunter said before this happens, the association would do what they could to keep their costs low, such as decreasing the amount of time they're spending on the ice.
I understand that costs have to increase with inflation, and that the cost of running the recreation centre is enormous, especially with the cost of energy in this region.
But the user fees collected cover a tiny portion of the operating costs of the arena.
McDonald said in 2017, revenue from arena user fees and skate sharpening totalled $54,000, but expenses for the overall arena were $2.4 million.
User fees are a drop in the bucket.
Even with the fee increases, the total revenues from user fees are not going to be much more significant.
On the flipside, a $25 increase in user fees could mean some youth are unable to afford to participate in hockey.
Youth should not be priced out of hockey. I think the town needs to find alternative funding sources so that youth can continue to participate in hockey for a reasonable price.
The benefits of minor hockey are undeniable: physical exercise, learning team building, fostering a vibrant community – the list goes on.
Inuvik youth should not be excluded from playing hockey, a national pastime, because of user fee increases.