For many Sask. families, there's a high cost to chasing sports dreams

Jeffery Tram · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 27, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Regina's Schultz household knows the outgo of competing astatine the highest level.

Maddox Schultz, 15, is expected to beryllium the archetypal wide prime astatine the upcoming WHL draft, and has been dubbed by hockey scouts arsenic a aboriginal star.

But his emergence didn't hap overnight, and Maddox learned from an aboriginal property what it meant to unrecorded successful a high-performance environment.

His parents, Vicki and David Schultz — some elite fig skating coaches — raised him successful rinks portion coaching his older sister successful fig skating.

He says for now, he's trying to absorption connected appreciating the enactment of his family.

"I conscionable gotta beryllium grateful for the time, and bask the clip I person with them, due to the fact that ... they're my people," Maddox said successful an interrogation with CBC's This is Saskatchewan.

But for galore families crossed Saskatchewan, the pressure to put successful their children's sports dreams, successful hopes of 1 time playing professionally, tin beryllium intense.

And from backstage coaching to specialized camps, instrumentality upgrades, cross-country tournaments and edifice bills, the expenses heap up quickly.

"In volleyball, conscionable for a December to May season, you're looking astatine $1,500 to $3,000 conscionable for the basics," Mark Dodds, caput manager of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's volleyball team, said successful an interrogation with CBC Radio's Blue Sky.

"But it's each the question — that's wherever the outgo truly ramps up. It tin easy heap into the $10,000-plus range."

In hockey, that fig is often overmuch higher, with families sometimes spending tens of thousands of dollars successful a azygous twelvemonth to enactment competitive.

The fiscal outgo is lone portion of the pressure. Families are besides often faced with tough decisions astir their child's future, and however much time should beryllium dedicated to sports specialization.

"You're seeing sometimes wherever parents are surviving vicariously done their kids," Dodds said. "That over-involvement, that request that a kid continues to pursuit the higher level contempt whether they privation to oregon not… usually that doesn't crook retired excessively well."

Dodds said helium worries astir the semipermanent effects, noting that galore athletes are burning retired by the clip they scope 16 oregon 17 years old.

"The enjoyment of sports for kids gets taken retired due to the fact that of the request and pressure," Dodds said.

As families proceed to navigate the demands of elite younker sports, Dodds hopes they keep in mind the archetypal crushed their kids started playing.

"Ultimately, if you spell and interrogation a nationalist squad jock oregon a nonrecreational athlete, they spell backmost to wherefore they started that sport," helium said. "And ultimately, it's due to the fact that they emotion the sport."

This communicative is from the This is Saskatchewan podcast — your transportation to the stories Saskatchewan is talking about. Every week, we screen section issues that matter. Hear the voices that are creating change, shaping argumentation and fuelling creativity successful Saskatchewan.

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