Sooke Soccer Club seeks help after field rent jumps 214%<\/p>\n
Published 5:45 am Tuesday, June 30, 2026<\/p>\n
Sooke soccer families could face higher registration fees after the local club\u2019s field-rental bill more than tripled.<\/p>\n
Sooke Soccer Club told district council June 22 its annual cost to rent fields at Fred Milne Park is set to rise from $16,797 to $52,800 \u2014 an increase of about 214 per cent.<\/p>\n
The club is asking the district for a $36,003 annual grant to cover the difference and help keep registration fees from climbing.<\/p>\n
The club is also asking council to explore creating a District of Sooke or SEAPARC-owned soccer facility, arguing players have few other places to go.<\/p>\n
Vice-president Pete McKay told council the club has little choice but to use Fred Milne Park because Sooke has no district-owned soccer fields. The only other local options, school district fields, lack turf and lighting, according to the club\u2019s submission.<\/p>\n
Fred Milne Park is operated by the Sooke Community Association, not the district. According to the club\u2019s submission, the increase is being imposed by the Fred Milne Group.<\/p>\n
The reason for the increase was not outlined in detail in the club\u2019s submission.<\/p>\n
The dispute has put council in the middle of a broader debate over who should pay for community sports: families, taxpayers or the groups that operate local fields.<\/p>\n
Sooke Soccer Club serves about 340 youth players and 110 adult players.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo cover the increase, SSC would need to significantly raise registration fees, likely driving away members and disproportionately impacting lower-income families,\u201d the club said in its written submission.<\/p>\n
Club financial documents show the new rental bill would create a significant shortfall in the 2026-27 budget.<\/p>\n
One budget scenario, before the full increase, projected rent at $19,260 and left the club with a small $1,347 surplus. A second scenario, accounting for the full jump, projected rent at $52,800 and a $32,193 deficit.<\/p>\n
The increase could be passed directly to players.<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s fee comparison shows proposed 2026-27 registration rising to between $300 and $360 for youth players, depending on age. Women\u2019s registration would climb to $420, while men\u2019s division registration would rise to $440.<\/p>\n
Council did not approve the club\u2019s grant request during the delegation.<\/p>\n
But the issue is expected to return to council July 13 through a notice of motion calling for the district to enter discussions with the Sooke Community Association about new service agreements for Fred Milne Park and Art Morris Park.<\/p>\n
The motion also says rate increases for user groups at those facilities should be kept to a \u201creasonable minimum.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Sooke Soccer Club, the timing is a major concern as it prepares for the coming season.<\/p>\n
Without relief, the club says it will have to set registration fees based on the higher rental bill, leaving families to absorb the cost.<\/p>\n
The Sooke Community Association, which operates Fred Milne Park, did not respond to a request for comment by deadline on the reason for the increase or whether it would consider phasing in the higher fees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sooke Soccer Club seeks help after field rent jumps 214% Published 5:45 am Tuesday, June 30, 2026 Sooke…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-771176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}