Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Policies

Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Policies
Awareness of TFSR Policy–Spectators
When asked “Are you aware that this team has put in place a tobacco-free sports and recreation
policy?” well over half (n=29, 58%) of the 50 surveyed Peewee/Bantam spectators indicated that
they were aware. Those who were aware heard about the policy directly from their child or the
team (n=6), another parent (n=4), the health unit representative (n=5), the coach (n=3),
messaging (e.g., logo, announcement at a regular game) or attending a designated Tobacco-Free
game with TFSR promotion (n=9).
TFSR Policy Awareness versus Messaging
When the key informants and the focus group discussed awareness of TFSR policy, some
participants appeared unsure of what a policy entailed and more often than not referred to a
wide range of TFSR promotional initiatives that had been developed by local PHUs (or TCANs).
One key informant made a key distinction between TFSR policy and TFSR messaging and
explained that the youth hockey players were more likely to reflect back on TFSR policy events
rather than the policy document itself:
I think for the kids they understand, their awareness is the Play, Live Be
messaging--that tobacco and sports don’t mix. I don’t think that they had a high
level of awareness of what would happen if somebody was smoking or using
tobacco and how that would impact the team so in terms of their awareness of the
actual formality of the--specific policy--their awareness was low cause that wasn’t
a focus. The focus of the policy was more the management and the parents and the
coaches and the people who would be affected. The players it was more the
education about the message and that was probably given their age as well cause
they were younger. (PHU Key Informant)
The PHU key informant also suggested that players know a policy document exists but that they
may never be able to recite its contents. The message is clear to them and that is the most
important aspect of the tobacco-free campaign. Focus group facilitators had to prompt the young
players in both focus groups to recall the specific policy but many of the participants reported
that they had received TFSR policy information from their parents:
Ontario Tobacco Research Unit 17