Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Policies

Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Policies
her children (ages 15-16) who play sports do not “hang out with anyone who smokes like it’s just
not what they do.”
Survey results indicate that parents and other spectators were the most frequently observed
smoking cigarettes. Use of other types of tobacco including cigars, cigarillos, and chew tobacco
were reported infrequently, but coaches/team staff and the Junior B players were observed using
chew tobacco. The women’s league described tobacco use by players and management as a
discrete activity. Respondents at this site also believed that smokers were less likely to travel to
tournaments because they could not hide their smoking and were not perceived as being fit to
endure additional hockey games beyond the weekly games.
Most tobacco use occurred outside, near the arena doors or in the parking lot, although players
were noticed using chew tobacco inside the arena.
The Junior B case study revealed a negative aspect of hockey culture and tobacco use. The
interviews and focus groups clearly captured participants’ knowledge about the negative effects
of smoking. There was however, a perception by some participants that chew was less harmful
than smoking. There were also comments about the ease of using chew tobacco because it was
less visible than smoking (“could be gum”). In addition, there were some comments indicating
that tobacco could be useful for performance (“a fix”) and that the use of chew may be ignored if
a player’s performance was successful (i.e., implying that winning the game was more important
than addressing chew tobacco use).
Impacts of TFSR Policy
It is important to acknowledge TFSR policy achievements to date. Both the Peewee/Bantam and
Women’s league case studies mentioned that individuals (parents and players respectively) had
quit smoking as a result of their TFSR policy adoption. The spectator surveys showed that across
all four case studies, the TFSR policy was perceived most effective in positive role modeling for
youth (“very” or “somewhat effective”, 91%), and in preventing exposure to second-hand smoke
(“very” or “somewhat effective”, 84%). In addition, respondents believed that the TFSR policy
was effective in preventing youth from starting to use tobacco products (“very” or “somewhat
effective”, 80%), preventing exposure to tobacco use-related litter (“very” or “somewhat
effective”, 71%) and encouraging tobacco users to quit (“very” or “somewhat effective”, 65%;
See Table III-6 in Appendices).
Ontario Tobacco Research Unit 59