Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Policies

Tobacco-Free Sports and Recreation Policies
Further reports of TFSR policy implementation impacts included:
• Provision of positive role modelling for players (e.g., Peewee/Bantam) leading to
increased awareness and knowledge in younger players.
• De-normalization of tobacco use and increased awareness of the TFSR policy generally,
and about healthy lifestyle choices more broadly (reach included parents, spectators,
families, and community members).
• Reduction in smoking among a few parents and potentially among Junior-level players
(more likely decreased chew usage). Spectators accessed quit smoking kits at PHU
hockey events.
• Reduced exposure to second-hand smoke as smokers have tended to move away from the
arena doorways (through establishment of designated areas).
Challenges
Barriers to implementing a TFSR policy in a hockey setting included:
• Maintenance of the momentum from year to year: Interviews highlighted player and coach
turnover leading to ebbs and flows in the momentum of the tobacco-free efforts. New
coaches may not be as attentive or informed as those involved with initial policy
implementation. Similarly, as many of the volunteers are the family members of players,
there is also a turnover from year to year.
• Volunteer capacity and fatigue: The Women’s league case study reported that some
activities were dropped (e.g., website maintenance, production of written materials)
because there were no volunteers available or no volunteers with the appropriate skillset.
• Reliance on individual teams and individual champions (volunteers) to promote TFSR
policy and tobacco-free promotion.
• Lack of consistent funding to maintain the local TFSR messaging and to achieve all
elements (e.g., logos/promotional materials, signage/ advertising, swag for players).
Funding was emphasized across the case studies.
• Little to no TFSR policy review in place to ensure that the policy items are revisited on an
annual basis.
Ontario Tobacco Research Unit 60