STRASBOURG, Sask. – Lisle Wagner is a single parent with three teenaged boys at home who are active in hockey.
A diabetic who had kidney transplant surgery this year, he lives off a $1,200 monthly federal disability pension, child support from his ex-wife and the child tax credit. Poor health forced Wagner out of dairy farming near Strasbourg in 1995.
Standing five feet five inches and a hair over 100 pounds, he requires anti-rejection drugs and insulin.
With his boys’ hockey costs running around $4,000 a year, Wagner said the $400 he received from the KidSport charity was a “godsend. It’s substantial for me.”
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The self-professed hockey nut has come to depend on the program during the past three years, although he said he would find a way to keep his boys in hockey even without the charity, which raises funds to support youth in sports.
“My kids would still play hockey, but my heat, power bill would suffer.”
The charity is administered locally by a committee in Strasbourg, one of 17 communities in Saskatchewan and numerous others across Canada that have established a KidSport group.
Carol Schultz helped establish it in Strasbourg four years ago. She works at the Royal Bank, which is a corporate partner in KidSport.
“I feel if there is a program out there of financial assistance that can be used within our community, it should be used to benefit someone,” said Schultz, whose son has benefited from hockey and is now pursuing a career in the NHL.
“This is just a way of keeping them active and keeping it affordable. It doesn’t cover a lot, but it covers a bit and allows them to be involved.”
The committee receives a yearly grant from KidSport, and raises about $1,500 a year through sales of used clothing and donations by local merchants. The Strasbourg program assisted 30 children last year.
Applications are distributed through school newsletters and can be submitted by families seeking assistance or by others on their behalf.
In Strasbourg, the program isn’t limited to sports.
Like most kids, 15-year-old Zachary Hudym hates his daily 45-minute piano practices.
“I don’t really hate piano. It’s more like pulling teeth,” he said of the rigorous routine required for his upcoming Grade 6 music exam.
His sister Avianna, 13, has danced for nine years.
“It’s a thing that I enjoy. It gives me something to look forward to,” she said. Like Zachary, she has won awards for her efforts.
Their mother, Rita Hudym, a member of the local recreation board that works with KidSport, praised the local committee for choosing to include activities in recreation and culture as well as sports.
Hudym said her three children’s lessons would not have been possible without financial assistance from KidSport.
The Hudyms have made sacrifices to provide their children with piano and dance lessons in Strasbourg. The parents work at three jobs and live in an old home on the family farm. Five years ago, Strasbourg did not offer a music or band program in its school.
“In rural communities, it is a really important thing that it is so inclusive,” said Hudym.
“(KidSport) catches so many kids that would otherwise fall through the cracks.”
In Strasbourg, KidSport provides up to $200 per child for activities ranging from Scouts to dance to hockey.
Alison Donohue, KidSport’s provincial co-ordinator, said the goal is to support children in sports. Local committees do have some autonomy, but must work under the program guidelines.
“As a rule, we don’t promote cultural. We’d like to be able to but we are restricted, based on funds.”
Donohue said the volunteer provincial committee distributed $62,000 to 17 communities in 2000. Local fund raising efforts collected another $116,000. The Saskatchewan program will mark KidSport week April 29 to May 6 with activities and celebrity appearances.
