As parents psych themselves up for winter sports, they may have to prepare for not only chilly mornings and soggy uniforms, but a hike in sports fees too.
This fee rise may be one way sport organisations compensate for a reduction in Lotto profits for 2015-16 as reported by the Lottery Grants Board earlier this month.
Creative New Zealand, the New Zealand Film Commission and Sport New Zealand receive 42% of the lottery profits, so sport players rely heavily on Lotto players to keep our activities afloat.
It appears the game of chance is more attractive to Lucky Dip players when the pool of potential winnings is big, and last year there were fewer large jackpots, because too many people were winning regularly. It seems that when Lotto players win, sport and the arts lose.
The precarious funding stream also highlights the satire of the relationship between gambling and wellbeing-related activities. Why is sport, often associated with pro-social benefits, reliant on money from the dark side?
Sport, especially at the professional level, has been sponsored by tobacco, alcohol, banks and insurance companies, all of which can be accused of exploiting the weak and vulnerable in order to make a profit.
Are things any more ethical at the grass-roots and amateur levels of sport?
For years, we have relied on gambling through pokies and Lotto grants to keep our kids active and engaged. This feels wrong on so many levels, but when I buy a Lotto ticket it makes me feel virtuous thinking that the profits of my gambling will be going back into the community.
What are the alternatives? In the 2014-15 financial year, Sport New Zealand received $47.6million from the Lottery Grants Board. Where else would that money come from? User-pays? A grass-roots sport Givealittle page?
There is already talk of cutting back in Creative New Zealand and chief executive Stephen Wainwright has suggested pilot projects would not be renewed.
For people working hard on those projects, that must be tough to swallow as they scramble around for funds to keep momentum.
Sport New Zealand is less forthcoming about what a drop in funding will mean for it. On the SportNZ website the 2015-16 community sport investment figures show funds were allocated to national sport organisations ($6000 to $900,000), regional sports trusts ($430,000 to $3.185million), and other partners ($80,000 to $983,000).
One would hope that if any culling of funds were to occur, the trimming would happen at the top first.
Minority sports struggle to access funds through other means (sponsorship, media rights) but that doesn't mean they are dispensable.
I'd like to think New Zealand can offer our citizens a range of sport, recreation and creative opportunities. Unfortunately, we rely heavily on more of us playing a game of chance more regularly to keep those opportunities open.
