Dear Members of the Surrey Sharks Field Hockey Club,
I hope this message finds you well and you are excited for the upcoming season. After weeks of planning for the fall, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide some insight towards some changes as we open registration this week.
Over the years, our club has been dedicated to providing our members with the opportunity to play field hockey at accessible rates. With the assistance of Provincial Community Gaming Grants we apply for each year, we have strived to keep our registration fees as low as possible while maintaining sustainability of our operations. However, as many of you are aware, the costs associated with running our club have been steadily increasing. The City fees for turf rental, upkeep, and associated operational costs have seen a significant increase in recent years. Additionally, other essential Club expenses such as equipment, league fees, storage expenses and administrative costs continue to rise as well, all while the grant amounts awarded have been steadily decreasing.
For the past 2 years the club has been operating at a deficit in order to delay increasing registration fees by a substantial amount. In order to ensure that we can continue to provide programs through the upcoming season and beyond, the decision has been made to increase our registration fees for the upcoming season. While we realize that any increase may pose challenges for some of our members, please know that this increase is necessary for the club to remain financially viable. The additional revenue generated from these fee adjustments will be directly used to cover the increased costs of continuing to offer the programs that we already do, while accounting for the much lower gaming grant award amounts that we have been receiving in recent years. No part of the increased fees are going to be used for new programs or expenses.
We sincerely appreciate your understanding and continued support as we navigate these financial changes. Our goal is to ensure that every member of our club has access to the best possible resources and experiences in the sport of field hockey for years to come.
Thank you once again for being a part of our field hockey family. We are looking forward to another season together.
Best regards,
Kira Okada
President
Surrey Sharks FHC