Soccer Smoking & Prevention
Prevent Smoking Among Soccer Players
| Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs (ATOD) After-School Prevention Program and Latino Youth Conference Against Tobacco Smokefree Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana (317) 241-6471 Smokefree Indiana works with community organizations throughout the state to create programs that help youth say "no" to tobacco. In Indianapolis, the True Belief Academy's Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs (ATOD) After-School Prevention Program gives kids aged 10-14 the chance to play fun and structured recreational activities while they learn how to avoid harmful substances. The program targets kids in Marion County who are at moderate risk of using alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs. It runs two days a week for eight weeks, with activities that help kids resist peer and social influences, resolve conflicts, make good decisions, and develop their teamwork and communication skills. Kids aged 8-13 can participate in the schools' NFL Flag Football League, which teaches boys and girls the basics of football and instills in them the importance of teamwork, discipline, and leadership. Smokefree Indiana helped the school develop the ATOD program, which is funded by the Indiana Department of Mental Health. Smokefree Indiana also funded the first annual Latino Youth Conference Against Tobacco, held in May 2000 at Thatcher Park. This was the first special activity targeting Latino youth in Indianapolis and the first to be presented in Spanish. The all-day event, which attracted youth aged 12-22, included breakfast and lunch, basketball, swimming, soccer, a video on tobacco, and presentations by well-respected Latinos about the physical and emotional dangers of using tobacco. Each youth received a packet of information about tobacco and a conference T-shirt. Other items were given away during tobacco-related games, question-and-answer contests, and raffles. Results of a post-confer-ence evaluation and interviews with youth indicated a strong desire for such activities targeting Latino new arrivals. The conference was run by the Wishard Hispanic Health Project in collaboration with the Mayor's Latino Affairs Commission, Indy Parks, La Ola Latino-Americana, Nuestra Musica, Latino Soccer group, Wishard Foundation, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Big Sky State Games Fueled by a Tobacco-Free Performance! Billings, Montana (406) 254-7426 The 16th annual Big Sky State Games in 2001 are pitching tobacco-free messages to thousands of Montana youth. This Olympic-style festival is open to Montanans of all ages and abilities. More than 12,000 athletes compete in 29 sports, including basketball, volleyball, soccer, and other team sports as well as karate, kayaking, cycling, disc golf, roller skating, archery, fencing, and bowling. The Big Sky State Games are a great opportunity to reach many Montanans 26 The Tobacco-Free Sports Playbook because the festival attracts a large number of Native Americans, children, women of childbearing age, and spit tobacco users. Goals are to discourage youth from starting to use tobacco, encourage tobacco users to quit, reduce secondhand smoke at the games, and promote tobacco-free venues for all competitors. Participants receive a tobacco-free brochure with an incentive inside-a free Wendy's Frosty. If they pledge to be tobacco-free, they receive a free temporary tattoo. The "Fueled by a Tobacco-Free Performance!" slogan is featured on all athlete and volunteer T-shirts, entry booklets, and printed materials at the games. Smoke-Free Kids and Soccer Program Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine and United Soccer Federation of Maine Augusta, Maine (207) 287-4626 The Smoke-Free Kids and Soccer Program includes clinics for kids, information booths at tournaments and fairs, a Smoke-Free page on the Soccer Maine Internet site (www. soccermaine.com/pages/smokefree.html), coaching courses that advocate for coaches' involvement in tobacco-use prevention, and development of the Tobacco Free Athletes Coach's Handbook. The program staff team up with college and pro athletes to give their smoke-free messages higher visibility. For example, they host Kick Butts Day activities with the University of Maine Women's Soccer Team, and they organize smoke-free celebrations and clinics that feature college soccer stars as well as professionals with Major League Soccer teams. Winter X Games Booth Vermont Department of Health Tobacco Control Program Burlington, Vermont (802) 863-7355 Having a booth at the 2000 Winter X Games helped the Vermont Tobacco Control Program reach young fans of extreme sports with important messages about the harms of tobacco use. It also put a human face behind the program and got many local residents involved in the program's activities targeting young people. Middle school students who are part of Vermont Kids Against Tobacco (VKAT) staffed the booth and offered hot cocoa to visiting kids and adults. While the visitors enjoyed their cocoa, they couldn't help but be curious about the odd display of items-such as toilet bowl cleaner and a bottle of cyanide. The students explained that the products represented just some of the toxic ingredients in tobacco products. They gave each visitor a flier with more information about how tobacco use harms health. The youth also had a sign-up sheet where local residents could volunteer to help with the pro-gram's other youth activities, such as Our Voices Xposed (OVX), a movement led and run by high school students whose goal is to lower smoking among youth aged 13-17 and to help them stay smoke-free throughout their lives. Mountain Biker Alison Dunlap is a World Cup Champion. Photo by Jeff Gross/Allsport. The Tobacco-Free Sports Playbook 27 |
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