Success Stories

During the 2009-2010 hockey season, York Region Community and Health Services tobacco staff consulted with the Newmarket Hurricanes Community Relations Coordinator to develop a comprehensive action plan that included: attending three hockey games to raise community awareness about the importance of tobacco-free sport and recreation; promotional advertising including a rink board ad and a health message in the program; enhancing the existing policy and developing a communication strategy. When the hockey season ended, York Region tobacco staff continued working with the Community Relations Coordinator to develop a comprehensive tobacco-free policy that included a players’ pledge. In addition, the policy ensures that any new volunteers will also be tobacco-free.

“The importance of being tobacco-free has always been recognized by the Newmarket Hurricanes. Being tobacco-free is an important message for our players and with our new tobacco-free policy we have taken the next step towards ensuring our players are healthy, performing at their best, and are excellent role models for children and youth in the community," said Brian Perrin GM and Head Coach, Newmarket Hurricanes.

The tobacco-free policy will be officially launched at the beginning of the 2010-11 hockey season. The Newmarket Hurricanes are the first Junior A hockey team in York Region to adopt a comprehensive tobacco-free policy. The Newmarket Hurricanes are considered leaders and role models in promoting tobacco-free living and sports to children, youth and the community at large.

As Tobacco-free Sport and Recreation Coordinator in Nova Scotia I saw this as a great opportunity to connect with Football Nova Scotia with regards to implementing a Tobacco-Free policy and using the National tournament as a launch of the policy. After a number of meetings with the Football Nova Scotia Executive Director and the Board we were able to put together a policy and the decision to launch the policy at the upcoming event was embraced. We had banners made, information packages that went in all the player bags, lanyards for every athlete's id badge throughout the tournament, a media release with the local television network, and announcements about the policy during the tournament.

Overall the launch was a success and the majority of the fall will be spent unfolding the policy at a grassroots level with some of the younger football teams in the province. This is also a great opportunity for other provinces to look to their provincial football organizations for the possibility of implementing a Tobacco-free policy of their own as they have all been exposed to the idea of Tobacco-Free Sport and Recreation here in Nova Scotia.

We are proud and excited to have this accomplishment under our belts!

The Tobacco-Free Sport and Recreation initiative and Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit are striving to create the healthiest possible environment for youth and everyone involved in sports and recreation. According to the players participating in the tobacco-free baseball program 83% of players strongly support the tobacco-free policy. Also, 81% feel the tobacco-free baseball program is effective in encouraging children not to smoke.

PECI Panthers outfielder Evan Minnie, a 17-year-old in grade 12, had to make a choice: quit smoking or quit the baseball team. For more than two years Minnie has smoked a half a pack of cigarettes a day. On the first day of baseball tryouts, coaches made the team run laps and it had an impact on Minnie. “This year I ran half a lap and I was pretty much dead,” said Minnie, who has been smoke-free for more than six weeks now. “I can’t go back to the way I was before. Now I feel more like getting out and doing things.”

The Tobacco-Free Sport and Recreation program links with the new smoke-free playing fields by-law in Belleville and Quinte West. By banning smoking 25 meters from all parks and playing fields it can make a difference in changing community norms around tobacco use and help reduce youth smoking.

The 2010-2011 season hopes to extend the tobacco-free message across the entire Quinte High School Baseball League.

The organizers of this event believe strongly that the players are leaders and role models for youth, and have implemented a tobacco-free policy for the entire event. This policy, which was established with the assistance of the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, restricts the use of tobacco products by all players, team officials, organizers and contractors involved with the event. The event is being held at facilities with tobacco-free policies, so spectators will also be tobacco-free.

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit is a participating supporter of this event, and will be hosting the championship game. At this game, all spectators will receive Play, Live, Be Tobacco-Free messaging and promotional items, and the game will include on-field activities promoting a tobacco-free lifestyle. This game will be broadcast on national television, providing an opportunity for further reach of the Play, Live, Be message.

Thunder Bay's bylaw restricts smoking in areas where children play, banning the butt within 10 metres of playground equipment, beaches and any waterfront, as well as recreational facilities, such as hockey arenas. A promotional campaign by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit proudly touted the message "I (Heart) Smoke-Free Outdoor Spaces".

By designating the club as a Tobacco-Free Club everyone associated with the club -- including parents, coaches, officials and spectators -- were expected to be positive role models by keeping all soccer games, practices and related events tobacco free.

Wendy has also set her sights on the Town of New Tecumseth with plans to encourage it to expand its Smoke-Free bylaw for outdoor playground areas to include parks and playing fields.

The SCGHA launched its new tobacco-free policy at the first game of the season for the Stoney Creek Junior Sabres on September 25, 2009. The game started with an announcement about the new tobacco-free policy followed by a presentation of a Play, Live, Be…Tobacco-Free pin to the team captain of the visiting Kitchener/Waterloo Rangers. The SCGHA also encouraged visiting coaches, parents, players, and fans to be positive role models by not using tobacco industry products in areas where youth are present.

As part of the plan, a health promoter was assigned to UNfiltered, the local Youth Action Alliance Group, who made “smoke free parks and playing fields” their main project for 2008/2009.

UNfiltered attended a workshop in Toronto about creating policies for smoke free parks and playgrounds and initiated a poster contest with Grade 4 children across the County. Through the contest the Grade 4 students learned about smoke free playing fields. UNfiltered also set up a “graffiti wall” at the Belleville Waterfront Festival and gathered public signatures of support during the event. The day following the festival, UNfiltered picked up all the butts they could find from the park and filled a large water jog (35 gallons!)

After these initiatives, UNfiltered asked the City of Belleville Council to post signs in playgrounds and parks (as a public bylaw already existed which stated that smoking was prohibited wherever signs were posted). Following that, the Program Manager for Tobacco Control was asked to speak to Quinte West Council about youth and tobacco. At that meeting, one council member asked what else they could they do to help reduce tobacco morbidity and mortality in Quinte West. The tobacco control program proposed that they allow UNfiltered to present to them about creating smoke free playgrounds and playing fields.

In response, a “briefing note” was developed about smoke free playgrounds and playing fields and sent to Quinte West and Belleville city council members prior to making the deputation. It focused on three key messages: role modeling, exposure to second hand smoke and litter and listed other municipalities where bylaws were passed.

The presentations to the Councils were conducted by UNfiltered and were well received. Quinte West moved to consider their deputation and UNfiltered returned the following month to witness council voting to pass a new bylaw to prohibit smoking in all playgrounds and playing fields. Soon after, the City of Belleville decided to move forward with posting signs to ensure their existing smoking bylaw was extended to parks and playgrounds as well.

On April 21, 2009, during our annual Youth Action Alliance report to our local regional council, we mentioned the success we had with getting a local sports organization to adopt the policy. It caught the ear of a local reporter and what followed was a blitz of media coverage on what was by then being referred to as the “Tobacco Free Sports movement”.

Since that time one of our enforcement officers has reported that several baseball associations have made internal policies to restrict smoking around the diamonds. Region staff has been featured on television explaining how the SFOA applies to school property, including sports fields. We keep hearing stories about how different organizations are going about adopting the policy and enforcing it – like the story of the 14 year old referee who suspended play at a youth soccer game until a parent put out their cigarette or left the pitch area.

This initiative was identified as a regional action priority for the Toronto Tobacco Control Area Network (TCAN) and the T-DOT Youth Action Alliance. Eleven months after an introductory meeting of the issue with Toronto Parks management, in which a Parks Manager champion joined the cause, a joint report from the Medical Officer of Health and the General Manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation recommending an amendment to Chapter 608, Parks, was approved by Parks Committee, Board of Health and finally Toronto Council.