A call has been made to copy an Australian scheme and provide vouchers to get children to play sport.
The New Zealand Amateur Sport Association said low-income families who experienced material hardship were less likely to enrol their children in club-based sport and connect with the community.
NZ Amateur Sport Association chairman Gordon Noble-Campbell said sport fees were getting expensive and more families were choosing not to play sport because of cost.
The Government had announced a $265million sport recovery fund last year, and some of that had been allocated to clubs.
But Noble-Campbell said anecdotal evidence showed many clubs found it difficult to apply and funds were not forthcoming.
Australian states used a voucher system where families could use vouchers provided by state governments to pay for their children’s sporting fees.
He said the New Zealand government should look into such as scheme. The idea had been floated with government before but nothing had eventuated, he said.
Australian states were given vouchers valued at between $100 and $200.
"If we got this scheme under way then it would be a win-win for both families and clubs," Noble-Campbell said.
"Clubs would get the money from the voucher and the families would get their children playing sport."
The clubs would have to be legitimate and providing services, but it was a relatively straightforward process.
Sport fees had crept up and playing sport was becoming expensive, Noble-Campbell said.
Covid-19 has made it only harder, as clubs still had fixed costs which they had to pay, but income was tighter.
Grants are becoming difficult to access and clubs were having to work hard to break even.
Clubs and their volunteers provide positive, life-forming experiences for young New Zealanders, which will equip them with relationships and skills for adult life.
"The costs of providing that experience (including providing equipment, maintaining infrastructure and paying local authority levies) mean that membership fees are necessary," Noble-Campbell said.
"However, they should not be a barrier to enabling all members of society to benefit from what New Zealand's sporting volunteers provide to their local communities."
