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This Saturday (and March 7) at the Waterloo Town Square marks the begin- ning of the 1992 Spring Minor Sport Registration for softball, thall, baseball, soccer, gymnastics, judo, minor football, field hockey, track and field, cricket, lacrosse, sailing and rowing. And while the interest in minor sports is on the rise, getting team sponsorship is becoming a sport all on its own. Waterloo Minor Baseball Association T. Ball vice president Dave Winter noted that Pete Cudhea ' Chronicle Staff The cutbacks and shutdowns of these recessionary times are making it tougher and tougher for Waterloo minor sports clubs to get sponsorship dollars out of local business. Minor 1992/1993 no ordinary season for " Symphony _ -- m... run vcllh "" “734. For the average homeowner (with a property valued at $150,000) that means an increase in dollars of $11.26 per year, bringing the average city tax bill up to $442.25 from last year's $431, After a five-hour meeting Monday, coun- cil approved the tax rate, but not before It sure" Ga' the long way round, but Waterloo City Council hag approved a tax rate increase of 2.61 per cent for 1992. D..- ALA - . Deborah maiden Chronicle Staff !i!,tt,, tartsrto increase i'i?ii'ii'i'ijii- Cfii‘i’icle sports caught in sponsorship squeeze Page 21 And even though they're still looking for about 20 more sponsors, Winter is antici- pating a good year for the more than 1,250 “It's the Fred's Diner and Bill's Auto. body type of companies that are tougher to get, and realistically, sponsorship isn't great advertising. It’s more or less a public service" are new cries, but many come and go," Winter said. getting team sponsorships was dimeult last year and it's not getting any easier this year, either. The group has contacted more than 400 business and service clubs in Waterloo, and according to Winter, they're about 66 per cent to their goal. "There are always the traditional compa- nies (who sponsor teams) and then there W last-ditch efforts were 'made to reduce it even further. _ "We knew months ago this was going to be a tough budget, but we had no idea it was going to be as tough as it is," Mayor Brian Turnbull began the budget discus. sion. "There were three surprises that we weren't expecting several months ago, The first was from the province, where we budgeted for a 3-per-cent increase in our unconditional grant, and only got a l-per. cent increase. This meant just under " celebrates International Women's Day a"??? no Pl"" IO yrnmm, " 1992 Page 3 erloo. Ont; Last season, approximately 1,325 boys and girls played on about 80 teams in Waterloo, but with the growth in the City over the past year, Rowe is expecting an "We're in the middle of It Igettmg sponsorships) and we feel it's going to be a bit ofa blow," Rowe said, "We're gomg to have to sell a lot of chocolate bars to make we the difrerertee." v V -- .. v... -m, w - uua yam Mike Rowe, president of Waterloo Minor Soccer Association, is also anticipating a tough season ahead, Last year WMBA didn't Increase its fees, but faced with a deficit of close to $13,000, the association has been forced to reuse rehiptt,iim fees from $50 to $60 this year Departments Opinion ..............6 Community ..........8 Entertainment .......11 Crossword..........17 Business ...........21 Sports..............23 boys and girls Involved m baseball. Coun. Joan McKinnon presented council with a list of items which had been put back into the budget at a previous meeting, but which warranted a second considers "We also got a surprise from Kitchener Thuuit, at the llth hour of the budget process, of an additional bill of 8160.000 And we got another surprise from the region regarding the sewage rates (aeot1ntipg 10131.4 million." $31,000 in expected revenues had to be foung in. other places. Waterloo minor i-iii-Cite,?), _ "e, Q 485 Ki tr ty -, . .e Walerl50 iififiiiMt itt)' 'iiiiiitiiiiiii'itiiii& o" mm... W...” "We've had a meeting With the we haven't heard back from them er, we're optimistic," With the recesmon In rmnd. minor mom will be keepmg registration fees the same as last year Rowe added that over 360.000 of soccer's operation was raised through bmgos, fund ralsers and volunteers h also has an urkmd grant from the ("m of Waterloo, gmng them a discount on the cost of user fees for the fields, and they re hoping that the CIty wal provide them u 1th a $10,000 community grant Advemsmg nuppkmenu tonight's Walprlm (‘h'uurlq Lumber' . Cloudy High Pl C Increase In membershlp Rowe added that while it's tough gemng sponsorship from various business and Indusmes m Water, loo, area service clubs have alway: come through for the chlldren Thursday’s weather Council agreed not to replace Its secre- tary/researcher during her maternity leave, taking $11,804 from the budget to remove $5.000 from the budget that won't be needed this season for the L'ptwn Business Improvement Anal mm rtmm tion McKinnon compiled the meetmg Indivndually wnth cou determine m which areas each 1 cuts could be made. Ion compiled the hst after Vldually wnth councillors to which areas each felt budget * 5 9mm rem: Cup but "owev