Youth sports – for free and for fee

Photo: Mihkel Maripuu

In sports schools of major cities, parents are milked hefty euros for cool equipment, camps and trips: Meanwhile, cash-strapped local governments offer hobby education for free.

True: in the tiny communes, imparters of hobby education may often be less skilled than in towns; even so, they are no less enthusiastic. Beholding the pantheon of Estonian topmost sportsmen, one spots a disproportionally high percentage of stars with cold commune-school gym backgrounds.

On local government level, when it comes to hobby education, all do as they please: they may fund it, and they may not. Every commune has re-invented its own wheel i.e. come up with formulas how much, to whom and for what to pay. While in all other areas the state’s organising hand is clearly felt, in hobby education it is almost entirely withheld.

Back-country dog-cheap

Last year, the governing coalition broke its promise to award, starting January 2014, a €130 hobby-money per child. The euros would have been available for financing youth sports.

«Always, our budget excludes numerous nice ideas, and even more of the stupid ones,» declared finance minister Jürgen Ligi.

Would the state itself invest more into hobby education, the area should probably come under stricter central management. Grant some state pennies for a country boy’s training – and you’re in at the deep end. 

A typical commune sports figure would be Raido Tamm, at Vara, of Tartu County – a sports enthusiast himself, Mr Tamm does sports for kindergarten kids and teaches basketball for youngsters, at local sports hall. Rewarded by minimum wages for managing the hall.

While in towns, the youth are trained by coaches with special education, demanding pay, villages and small town live on enthusiasts toiling for nothing. As admitted by Mr Tamm: this is social work, of sorts – to keep kids from killing time with the good-for-nothings at the local bus stop. 

Koigi Commune, at Järva County, an area with slightly over 1,000 inhabitants, is succeeding in maintaining hobby education by own means. According to commune elder Kristjan Kõljala, local government pays for everything – basketball to robotics – via school budget. «I think the activities are about two dozen or so,» said he. Also, the commune supports kids attending music school, in Paide.

In the cities, meanwhile, sums sucked out of parents are reaching levels so astronomical that the question naturally arises: would €130 a year bring any relief to Moms/Dads, at all? Rather, many a sports school would simply add the sum to their bulging income.

According to Aivo Erkmaa, heading a successful Tartu youth basketball academy bearing his own name, parents have to buy the equipment – shoes, uniform, ball. Plus transport costs. «It’s expensive, broadly speaking,» said Mr Erkmaa.

Then there are the more costly sports, like ice hockey or tennis. Here, we are not talking about equipment alone, the court and arena rent being expensive.

Mr Erkmaa’s basketball school asks €25 a month. Cheaper schools are also to be found, with trainings two-three times a week, the kids destined to remain amateurs. Mr Erkmaa, however, is going for the results. «We train five-six times a week,» says he.

Dear crystals

For each young sportsman, city pays capitation fee; at the same time, says Mr Erkmaa, the sum is the same no matter how many times a week they train – two or five. «To rise higher, expenses increase... and that’s basically your own personal problem,» stated the man.

With no limits set to monthly fees and additional payments asked for hobby education, however, clubs and coaches are pushing the fees as high as parental patience will allow. 

Estonia having gymnastics clubs, the costs of which begun to choke the above-average parents. At a certain point of time, the club management took to deciding who sews the kids’ costumes; the crystals to go with those having to be purchased at the store specified by coach. All limits fell off of geography of trips abroad, with parents having to cough up money to fly coaches across the Atlantic – to say nothing about lower-level competitions in Southern Europe.

Another peculiarity: competition trips for cash, with no receipts. Of the two dozen parents interviewed by me, in their clubs this is standard practice. As a rule, this is winked at as with «black payment» the trips are more affordable. Parents blindly trusting organisers, however – nothing hindering the latter to pocket part of the money.

According to Veljo Lamp, head of Tartu sports service, the city considers varying criteria while awarding capitation fee. «We do not consider facilities rent, while making a difference when it comes to other criteria – such as the coaches’ education and efforts towards sports mastery,» said he.

The city sets no limits to number of training times per week. «A club dealing with the kids twice a week, minimum, that’s enough. The sum is the same, according to times,» said Mr Lamp.

Sponsor or sucker?

In reality, the city hands capitation fee to clubs, managers thereof then free to decide how much they allocate to basic level and how much for serious business. This year, Tartu city capitation fee per child is €47-233.

Kaili Kukumägi, head of sports department at Tallinn sports and youth agency, the city this year grants sports compensation to close to 20,000 youth and 500 coaches. The so-call basic amount being €163 per kid. Due to varying coefficients, bicyclists – this is expensive – got €396 per cyclist, swimmers’ lot being €350. 

Hobby education, an area loosely regulated and mainly dealing with non-profit organisations, club managers have options for procurement-free additional income. 

For instance: Tartu sports society Kalev chief executive Raido Mägi own a bus company Rakall, covering lion’s share of club’s trips – the man says a half of them. The bus company website’s only contact number is that of Mr Mägi’s.

According to annual report, Rakall services sports clubs, schools, and local governments. In Mr Mägi’s own opinion the company basically sponsors sports, taking kids to trainings and competitions at prices under market average. As admitted by managers of two other major Tartu sports clubs, they have used cheaper alternatives, lately, than Rakall.

Jaan Lutsar, coach and boss of the Tallinn judo club Aitado, the kids’ trip to training camps costs €500... to the background of free transport flaunted by Estonia’s capital. «I do training camps, at Otepää, for €25 a day; this includes lodgings at hotel, hall rental, and transport. And: monthly fee of €35 is no cheap deal either!» thinks he.

In Mr Lutsar’s words, the Tallinn capitation fee for his club has decreased, over the past ten years. The 130 governmental euros would have been a «ridiculous» drop in the ocean.