KidSport Red Deer has been there for many young boys and girls who want to get involved in some sort of activity.

So when it disappeared for some time there was quite a void to be filled but for the past three years the group has been running strong and building up momentum.

“KidSport Alberta was looking for someone to take the horse by the reins,” said Doug Holloway, vice chair with KidSport Red Deer. “It was a combination of people with the City of Red Deer and KidSport Alberta. The core of our board now as you see it came down and thought they’d like to participate in something like that and we formed a board on the spot.”

The first year of this revival was heavy on fundraising in order to get money in the bank to meet the requests of kids needing a little financial hand-up to get into an activity.

Now the group is spending the cash raised to help those kids but there is a need to strike a balance between what is coming in and what is being doled out.

In 2013 KidSport Red Deer helped out 161 young people to the tune of $30,000 with soccer players receiving the bulk of the financial help.

“Now dance and martial arts are becoming a little more popular,” said Holloway.

The organization will fund a child up to $250 dollars each year and a child can put in an application each year to the board in order to get the required funding.

The mandate for the group is to fund sports where the child will be involved in a sustained, ongoing experience so KidSport won’t fund registration fees for sports camps, said Holloway.

“We don’t want to fund organizations that make profits.”

It’s an issue which is apparently discussed quite often at board meetings around the province so the local groups are looking to KidSport Alberta for some guidance on this issue moving forward.

“It’s not really a black and white issue,” said Holloway. “I mean, how do you turn down a child who wants to participate in an activity even though you might not think it’s an activity suitable for what you want to fund.”

Holloway says sometimes local businesses are doing something to raise money for a cause and KidSport will be the recipient of their generosity, which is a bonus when it comes to keeping the coffers full.

“One company had a Texas Hold’em tournament and we ended up going out there speaking to them before they started their event and they ended up giving us the money from their event.”

You can find out more about the organization at kidsportcanada.ca.

sports@reddeerexpress.com