As I had previously posted, YRDSB has updated their community use of schools permit pricing and policies. These changes are going to destroy clubs such as ours as the new pricing increases are extreme to say the least. It is possible that most, if not all badminton clubs using YRDSB schools will have to end come September 2026. The information is publicly available from their website https://www2.yrdsb.ca/community/school-permits. I gave an example of a club whose costs I estimated to have gone up from around $2,000 to over $21,000 (still need to add HST).

While I'm certain most permits related to these clubs are made as non-for-profits, they are not money losers for the permit holders. The new YRDSB pricing policy basically is treating everyone as commercial entities. The board views the commercial pricing as their "cost" and they are now charging non-for-profits their "cost" as a means of "cost recovery". My guess is most clubs will not continue as there is no cost-effective way to pass the increases to members/players and still net them a profit. The problem now is how to avoid a likely loss, risking thousands of dollars. In the above example, the cost per member would have to be more than $210/member (with 100 members, which is probably higher to reality) just to break even with the board. Most clubs have additional costs above that and they want to turn some sort of profit. I believe that club would have to raise their price to $400-500 per member (with 100 members) if they want to have the same profitable bottom line. More importantly, they can't guarantee membership commitment before they are locked into permit contract with the board and insurance with provider. They need to take a much bigger financial risk than they have ever encountered. This is why I believe permit holders will not take that risk for little to no profit and players will rather stop playing or go to dedicated badminton facilities (i.e. if the club prices are similar).

Of course, all of this applies to our club at Thornlea. I saw all of this coming but when I got the email from the board, I wanted to just walk away. However, I think that would be even more disappointing to everyone who have been part of this club for a long time. When I took over from Charles, it was similarly an effort to save the club and not about making money. I want this club to continue for myself and everyone else who enjoy a couple hours of fun together. So I have put some thoughts into it and came up with the only viable idea I can think of to save the club. Below is my proposal.

The club will become a sort of "co-op". I will continue to be the permit holder and take care of everything associated with the board and running of the club. All costs will be passed to the members of the club, of which I will be one. The costs will be split equally for every member. So effectively, this is having a club operate at cost to keep each member's total fee at a minimum. In my opinion, this option may not seem interesting or special in mid-June but after September, most will regret missing out on this... unless there are major changes to the Ontario government... likely not happening for years.

I went ahead with renewing the permit and I'm assuming there is no issue renewing it but who knows with what's going on in the board. Let's assume that's just a minor detail. I've also reached out to the insurance provider to get a quote as the board no longer handles the insurance. With that, I have some initial numbers. These are not final for a few reasons: they didn't seem to have included equipment (poles) costs in their initial calculations, the final number of sessions isn't known yet, there may be some Ontario govt subsidies that may be applied in August (these are around 2% off rental fees only and there is no guarantee they will exist), and everything being subject to change (probably minor). Here're the initial cost amounts with HST:

Insurance: $133.43 (assuming HST included)

Administration Fee: $65.00

Rental fee:  $5,810.00

Sub-total:  $5,875.00

HST:  $763.75

Grand Total with insurance:  $6,772.18

I think it is safer to round this up to $7,000 in order to cover for unknowns, etc. So with this, assuming 30 members, that's $233 per member. Some people have asked me for a price and others have already told they are okay with $200 (based on my previous posts). I really appreciate those who have messaged me about that and I mean that. However, as all of you can see, this isn't about trying to price out selling an item or service to one person. If we don't get 30 members, this can't work as someone will have to hold the bag for the rest owed to the board. This is the reason for the "co-op" approach. If we have enough people committing and also pick up members from other clubs that will end, I hope we can save the club.

Next steps. I need to know within our club how many people share my interest to keep it going at the very least. Please be clear that this doesn't mean you are just okay with $233 per year. I've provided all of the initial numbers so let's be realistic about it what that means. I want to know how many are willing to go along and try to make this work. There is no commitment at this stage but obviously, if you're not being realistic with your intentions, it'll probably screw everyone. I'll post a poll in the WhatsApp group and we'll see whether this will be possible. If you know someone who wants to be part of this (with all caveats I've just mentioned), let me know. I'll publish a list of everyone who wants to support this. If the poll results warrant next steps, I'll update with further steps.

Thank you,

Di Ming