Soccer Smoking & Prevention
Prevent Smoking Among Soccer Players
| Kids are the stars of this Virginia Department of Health billboard promoting smoke-free environments at soccer and baseball stadiums. Tobacco and Sports Don't Mix Tobacco Control Division Virginia Department of Health Richmond, Virginia (804) 692-0002 Counter marketing efforts have taken many creative forms in Virginia, including paid ads and billboards to promote smoke-free environments within baseball and soccer stadiums. As a result, three baseball stadiums and one soccer stadium have adopted 100% smoke-free policies for their seating arenas. The other four baseball stadiums have adopted a smoke-free family section. One stadium removed tobacco advertising, viewing it as a conflict with the state health depart-ment's prevention messages. Several teams have invited staff from the state health department to join them on radio broadcasts about secondhand smoke, and team members have conducted prevention education programs in local schools. In addition, a coaches' handbook on tobacco use is distributed to youth soccer leagues in Virginia as well as through summer soccer camps conducted by the Hampton Road Mariners semiprofessional soccer team. The health department has also developed a three-panel display to promote tobacco-free messages at all sports venues. The display has been used by coalitions throughout the state and has been featured at the Virginia Youth Soccer Association Conference. Sponsoring teams is another way the state is reaching youth; a local coalition cosponsored the National Babe Ruth Baseball Championship as well as the Pony League Softball Championship when they were held in Virginia, and both events were tobacco-free. The state also hosts Smoke-Free Kids and Soccer events to reach girls and boys with life-saving messages about tobacco. 28 The Tobacco-Free Sports Playbook Tobacco-Free Soccer Campaign in Western Nebraska Division of Health Promotion and Education Nebraska Health and Human Services System Lincoln, Nebraska (402) 471-2101 This education campaign targeted soccer players 4-19 years old, their parents, and coaches in the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), Region 875 in Scottsbluff/Gering, Nebraska. A letter was sent to parents, informing them about the dangers of tobacco products and the negative image tobacco has with sports. The letter had an additional message to soccer players and coaches: Don't expose yourself to secondhand smoke, and always support smoke-free businesses and playing environments. All soccer teams were encouraged to write a letter to the businesses that were not smoke-free, encouraging them to go smoke-free. In addition, Citizens Against Tobacco (CAT) bought 900 sport bottles bearing the "Kick Tobacco Out of Soccer" slogan and the AYSO, Region 875 logo. Team members used a rubber band to attach to each bottle a free drink coupon from Arby's and four pamphlets from Journeyworks Publishing: How to Say No to Secondhand Smoke, How Tobacco Affects Your Body, 50 Things You Should Know About Tobacco, and Smokeless Tobacco. They put the materials into a plastic bag and handed them out to kids at the beginning of the spring soccer season. The campaign cost about $3,000. State health officials say responses from kids, parents, and coaches have been extremely positive. Milwaukee Smoke-Free Sports Program Milwaukee, Wisconsin (414) 227-3982 Teenage athletes are the stars of the Smoke-Free Sports Program, which has reached thousands of kids and adults. The teens are trained to educate their younger peers (grades K-8), presenting lessons such as "What's in Tobacco," "Don't Let the Tobacco Industry Count You In," "Sports and Tobacco Don't Mix," "Secondhand Smoke is Everywhere," and "Be a Part of a Winning Team.Eat Healthy." The teens make their presentations at sports sites throughout Milwaukee to reach kids on soccer, football, volleyball, and basketball teams and cheerleading squads. During fall 2000 and winter 2001, the teen presenters led 263 sessions and reached 7,468 children and 2,263 adults. The program has attracted plenty of community support. At a September 2000 kick-off event, the guest speaker was WNBA star Rhonda Mapp, center for the Charlotte Sting. Partners include the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) Division of Community Recreation and the MPS Drug Free Schools Program, the City of Milwaukee Health Department, the American Cancer Society Midwest Division - East Region, the American Lung Association of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Division of Public Health Southeast Region. As part of the program's Kick Butts Day celebration in April 2001, more than 300 Milwaukee school kids in grades 4-6 participated in a Smoke-Free Sports Day at the Pettit National Ice Center. The governor of Wisconsin The Tobacco-Free Sports Playbook 29 |
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