As the province moves to Level 1 of the winter COVID-19 plan, it brings with it a one-time grant for not-for-profit sports organizations that faced heavy restrictions under levels 2 and On Friday, the government announced a $10,000 grant for sports organizations.
The one-time grant is “intended for not-for-profit sport organizations that have experienced financial loss due to cancelled programs or events because of the public health restrictions between Dec. 13, 2021, and Feb. 18, 2022,” according to a release from the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.
It’s welcome news for Sports NB’s interim CEO Sabrina Durepos.
“In terms of the restrictions, restrictions have been very difficult on our members,” she said in an interview on Friday. “Not being able to host events … we’ve seen drops in memberships, not being able to offer programming. We need to understand that, for our members and the sport community, that (is) their main source of revenue a lot of the time.”
READ MORE: New Brunswick to move to least restrictive COVID-19 alert level Friday night
She said it has been difficult to hold fundraisers, sell tickets and hold tournaments — all of which are sources of revenue for teams in any league. 
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America's fastest-growing sport is a cross of tennis, pingpong and badminton
February 19, 20228:30 AM ET
SHANNON MULLEN

Freida Yueh (right) says of the increasingly popular sport of pickleball: "It's addictive so we just started playing and now with our other friends and relatives—actually everybody we know now plays pickleball."
Shannon Mullen
For the rapidly decreasing number of Americans who've never heard of pickleball, the obscure paddleball game is one of America's fastest-growing sports.
Invented in 1965 by three middle-aged fathers in Washington state, pickleball is a quirky cross among tennis, pingpong and badminton, played with a paddle and a perforated plastic ball. The founders are said to have named the game after a family dog called Pickles.
With 4.8 million people now playing — almost double the number from just five years ago, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association — some of the sport's devotees are capitalizing on pickleball's spike in popularity.

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The game now has two national professional tournaments, both formed in the last four years, and pickleball organizers are courting corporate sponsors to help grow the sport in the U.S. and abroad as part of a bid for Olympic inclusion.
"We're still small and scrappy, but we're not so innocent anymore," said Stu Upson, who was hired in late 2020 as the first CEO of USA Pickleball, the sport's official governing body. The organization was formed in 2005 to set rules and promote the sport.
Durepos said there is always room for more help but the grant is a good start.
“This fund is great news for our members in terms of helping to address some of the financial burden that has been placed on a lot of organizations,” she said.
When the province announced a week ago that restrictions would loosen yet again, it made some more room for certain sporting activities.
For Nic Jansen, it’s been a challenging several months for recreation in the province.
He said vaccination became difficult because some had it and others didn’t. Jansen said some players were included in some rules under the more restrictive levels, while others weren’t.
READ MORE: Parents, players petition New Brunswick government’s decision to stop sport
Returning to full-capacity sports won’t be easy, he said.
“When they announced the changes to alert Level 1 last week, which go into effect tomorrow, things have been very positive, our members are very happy to get back to playing games but the challenge now is with the number of positive cases. There is a lot of cancellations,” he said in an interview Friday.
He said the grant is a good thing for organizations, especially minor hockey leagues.
Applications for the funding will be accepted until March 11, according to a release from the department.
“The sport sector, like every aspect of society, has been hit hard by COVID-19, and we want to make sure those organizations and programs are supported,” said Tourism, Heritage and Culture Minister Tammy Scott-Wallace.
Last year, alongside the federal government, the department distributed more than $3 million to sports and recreation organizations
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