Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Policies
Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Policies - New Brunswick Anti ...
Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Policies - New Brunswick Anti ...
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<strong>Tobacco</strong>-<strong>Free</strong> <strong>Sports</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Recreation</strong> <strong>Policies</strong><br />
One hockey team administrator noted that since the 2008 TFSR policy inception, there has been<br />
little to no tobacco use at senior administrative levels, therefore providing non-smoking role<br />
models to youth or the team players.<br />
There was some evidence that the TFSR policy has had some effect on smokers who wanted to<br />
quit or to reconsider their tobacco use behaviours. One player described how a teammate had<br />
placed a chew in his mouth in the change room <strong>and</strong> many of the players were:<br />
A bit rattled <strong>and</strong> it’s just something you don’t need so when you have a group of<br />
guys that are in there that are all, ‘like alright we’re not doing this’, I think it works<br />
really well just to have like a full team that agrees like on it. (Player)<br />
In another case, a coach was reported to have quit or reduced his cigarette smoking:<br />
He’s really cut back knowing that like if, if we’re not allowed to do it <strong>and</strong> like not,<br />
it’s frowned upon for us to do it <strong>and</strong> that it’s the same for him too like it’s not like<br />
he’s above, above our team laws. (Player)<br />
Finally, as many as twenty five smoking cessation quit kits were picked up by hockey spectators<br />
at PHU led TFSR events held during hockey games. A PHU key informant felt that awareness <strong>and</strong><br />
knowledge of quit strategies may have increased as a result of both the PHU TFSR messaging at<br />
the game <strong>and</strong> the availability of the smoking cessation kits.<br />
Challenges in Implementing TFSR Policy<br />
Respondents identified key challenges in implementing TFSR policy for this team. A PHU<br />
informant felt that the transient nature of Junior-level hockey has meant that new coaching staff<br />
<strong>and</strong> players may not be fully aware of the TFSR policy. This individual also mentioned that as<br />
long as Junior-level <strong>and</strong> higher tiered hockey teams focus on winning at all costs, the tobacco<br />
use problems may linger:<br />
I think they’re more concerned about winning <strong>and</strong> if it was the best player on the<br />
team I don’t think especially if the coaching staff are chewing then I don’t see them<br />
doing that [enforcing policy] <strong>and</strong> I think <strong>and</strong> anecdotally I’ve heard a lot of stories<br />
from coaches locally <strong>and</strong> in other places where…they’ve actually been endorsing<br />
their players to chew to give them some sort of competitive advantage. (PHU Key<br />
Informant)<br />
Ontario <strong>Tobacco</strong> Research Unit 48