Karissa Agius, a Powell River woman, is circulating a petition which requests that BC Ferries allow Powell River elementary and high-school students to travel for free when on sporting trips.

Agius told the Straight that there is always someone heading across the water for a soccer game or other sporting event. “The costs get huge,” Agius said.

Agius’s uncle, Rick Agius, helps coach his daughter’s soccer team. He said that at least twice a month, 17 children and four adults must all pay $10 a head, plus vehicle transportation fees and fuel costs.

“Its getting to the point where it’s so expensive that all the fundraising we do is strictly for BC Ferries,” Rick told the Straight. “It’s not for anything else anymore because the money adds up.”

Agius hadn’t submitted her petition to BC Ferries when the Straight called for an interview. However, BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said she was aware that ferry costs had risen in recent years. She told that Straight that since 2004 the cost of ferry trips on major routes had risen by 2.8 percent. On minor routes, such as the ones that Powell River’s children must take for soccer games, ferry costs have risen by 4.4 percent over the last four years.

Marshall said that BC Ferries gives Bowen Island high school students free rides to and from school, but that children’s sporting events are handled differently.

BC Ferries and Sport BC presently have a corporate partnership that aims to provide travel support to Sport BC member organizations and its member clubs.

According to the program’s application form, athletes and coaches can apply for travel assistance three times per year for a maximum of $400 per application.

That form also states, “All successful applicants will be required to write a letter, within 30 days of the completion of travel, to Sport BC to thank BC Ferries and to describe your Sporting Life on the Coast event.” A photo of the team should also be included.