Squash BC’s Funding Slashed

The long awaited decision on the status of Squash BC’s gaming grant has finally been received. As with almost all the other sports who receive gaming grants, Squash BC has had a 73% decrease in this years grant.

In July we received word that SportsFunder was no longer giving out grants. This meant that the coaching programs that had received 75% of their costs would no longer be subsidized.

In mid August we received word from Team BC that sports would probably not be receiving any funding for the Canada Winter Games program. This was also a SportsFunder grant.

I was just at a Sport BC meeting yesterday and other programs which will probably be cut will be the Athlete Assistance Program and the Core Grant.

You are probably asking, “so how much we talking here?” We are looking in the neighbourhood of $60,000 in less funding then we received last year.

What will this do to squash?

I guess you could say there isn’t much these cuts won’t affect. While the cuts won’t stop squash being played in BC, provincial programs will be trimmed down to a bare minimum unless other sources of revenue are found.

Where do we find these sources of revenue?

I think we can rule out any sort of grant from any source. Every non profit organization in BC will be going after all the other grants and I’m afraid squash doesn’t have the same ability to pull at donors heart string as some other groups. Our traditional advertisers and sponsors are probably feeling the pinch as well. However, if they would like to up their commitments or start to support Squash BC, please don’t hesitate to call.

Our most stable form of revenue has come from our membership base, both clubs and players. These are the groups that will be most affected by the cuts in the long run and are the ones who receive the most benefits from squash.

What can these groups do? Join Squash BC.

Every year we have 600 to 700 people who do not join Squash BC from the previous year. They may not be playing league or tournaments and don’t see the benefit in spending $0.10 a day to support squash. If everybody who has ever joined Squash BC at anytime were to renew their memberships, we wouldn’t have to worry about any government funding or grants and we could run the sport the way we wanted to without government/bureaucratic interference. If everybody who played squash in BC were to support squash, we would be able to do amazing things with the sport.

Another option would be for clubs to charge an extra $30.00 per squash playing member per year whether they play league/tournaments or not and forward those names and revenue on to Squash BC.

As you all can see, there are options to keeping squash strong and growing in the province of BC. Can the board of Squash BC and the one full time employee do it by themselves? NO!

Squash in BC does not belong to Squash BC.
Squash in BC belongs to the clubs and players in BC.

Cost of Squash BC Individual Membership

To sign up for Squash BC Membership, click here, then click “Quick Membership Sign-In” and have your Squash BC number handy.