Why adults are finding it harder to get into sports

By SOFIA MOHAMED & NEHEMIAH KUSOPILA

Vancouver adults are struggling to access sports across the city, according to Ivan Augustine Yaco.

Yaco, a youth leader and program assistant at Kitsilano Community Centre, said that access and finances can be a barrier for adults who want to play sports.

“Before it would be more of an open-gym situation, where people can just come in and play basketball,” Yaco said. “But nowadays, everything is drop-in and everything costs money.”

He said that while the centre offers open-gym times for youth, it doesn’t offer similar access for adults.

The older you get, the less you play

Only 27 per cent of adults participated in a sport in 2024 according to the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Institute. A 2023 Statistics Canada survey reported that 24.4 per cent of survey respondents said that age was a barrier to sports recreation, and 11 per cent said cost was a barrier.

Yaco said while community centres offer many programs, they could introduce more variety.

“I think sometimes other community centres are very fixated on just keeping the top sports, and that’s what they’ve been doing for the past 20 years,” Yaco said. “But a lot of people play different sports. For example, there’s squash courts not being used and just used as a storage room.”

Langara student Oliver Hum also found it difficult to play sports at an adult level. He grew up playing volleyball, but once he was too old for the U18 level he found himself with limited options. Langara has no official volleyball team, so Hum took it into his own hands and created a volleyball club. 

He hopes the club can create opportunities for Langara students to participate and compete at a high level. Unfortunately, Hum found himself facing another obstacle. Finding the space to play.

A struggle to hit the courts

“It’s very hard to get a gym time here because everything’s booked out,” club vice president Austin Luk said.

According to Hum, team members sent multiple emails to Langara’s events and facilities coordinator, but the only response they received is that there is no gym availability at this time.

“I’ve kind of just given up on the idea of practices here at Langara,” Hum said.

As the club has been unable to find practice time, Luk said they can’t hold regular team practices, limiting them to tournaments and scrimmages resulting in a lack of team chemistry during tournaments.

Digging for hope

Though the volleyball club is officially recognized at Langara, it’s also not part of a league, but Hum and Luk plan to join the Volleyball BC men’s league this month.

Despite challenges finding a practice space, treasurer Kelly Le said the club is always looking for more people to join.

“It’s a great opportunity join the volleyball community and to meet new people,” she said.

Kevin Bastedo, operations at Vancouver Curling Club at Hillcrest Community Centre, also said sports is a great way for adults to foster connections.

“There’s not a lot of opportunity for adults to get out there and make friends,” Bastedo said.

He said the curling club offers flexibility to ensure adults of different levels of ability can participate.
“If [people] are interested in going for competitions, or just a weekend for some recreation, curling is a great option for individuals of any skill or accessibility level,” said Bastedo.