News Releases

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 10, 2012) - While the majority of parents agree that youth sports promote confidence and good health, they feel there are three key barriers to having children participate. Foremost, 87 per cent of parents agree that the costs associated with these activities are a major hurdle to participation, according to a new BMO Sports Survey.

Those parents who know what proportion of their budget goes towards sports typically say between one and five per cent of their household budget is dedicated to their children's sports activities, while 13 per cent of parents said they spend more than five per cent.

The BMO Sports Survey also found:

• Three-quarters of parents (74 per cent) believe that putting children in a sports activity can add another burden to their already hectic weekly family schedule.
• Almost half of parents (49 per cent) agree that access to - or quality of - sports facilities are barriers to participation within their community, citing access to fields and poor field quality as examples.

"It's important that our children have every possible opportunity to be physically fit, and our survey has highlighted some of the main reasons preventing them from participating in sports," said Sandy Bourne, Vice-President, Corporate Advertising & Sponsorships, BMO Financial Group. "Programs like BMO Team of the Week are hopefully making it easier for children to have access to soccer in their local communities."

According to recent data from ParticiPACTION, only seven per cent of Canada's children and youth are meeting the recommended guidelines for daily activity, with overall participation in sports by youth aged 15 -18 declining from 77 per cent to 59 per cent since 1992.

About BMO Team of the Week

BMO Team of the Week is Canada's premier sport celebration at the grassroots level, engaging a nation and inspiring communities by recognizing youth soccer teams who demonstrate team pride, team spirit, community commitment and passion for the game. Fifteen weekly winners will be named BMO Team of the Week, and entered for a chance to be voted by Canadians as BMO Team of the Week 2012 Champion. The grand prize for the winning team is a $125,000 prize towards a field refurbishment of their community soccer field, a road trip to a Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Montreal Impact, or Canadian National Team home game, and a $5,000 donation to the team's charity of choice.

Last year's BMO Team of the Week champion, the Glen Shields Sun Devils, U - 11 girls team from Vaughan, Ontario, have since put their title - and the prize - to good use. In addition to raising money of their own, the team successfully rallied the community and the City of Vaughan council to help with a larger refurbishment of their local soccer field. They also generously gave the $5,000 donation from BMO to the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

About BMO and Soccer

BMO supports soccer across Canada from youth players in local neighbourhoods and communities all the way up to the professional level. Our deep commitment to 'The Beautiful Game' is evident from the beginning of the curve with our grassroots sponsorship of more than 900 youth teams nationally. The relationship continues with support of Canada's men's and women's national teams, our professional teams (Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Montreal Impact) and our soccer venue title sponsorship (BMO Field).

The survey was completed on-line between April 9th, and April 15, 2012 using Leger Marketing's online panel, LegerWeb with a sample of 1005 Canadian parents with children under the age of 16. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of ±3.09%, 19 times out of 20.