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VOLUME 1: Sun Protection A junior cricket club teaches kids how to play and how to live. This is Volume One of how to live a healthy, cancer-smart, lifestyle. A lifestyle that prevents one-third of all cancers in Australia. 2015 Cancer Council NSW Healthy Sports Initiative
The Healthy Sports Initiative Playbook
Introduction At Cancer Council NSW we believe we can and will beat cancer. Every year more than 37,500 new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed in NSW alone. The impact on families, carers and our local community is significant. The good news is that one third of cancers can be prevented largely through lifestyle changes. The Healthy Sports Initiative is our free, three year, membership program. It s designed for junior cricket clubs and aims to create a healthy, cancer-smart, environment for members and their families. It includes easy to adopt strategies and practices to help manage the environment for players and supporters in the areas of: Sun Protection Smoke-free Environments Alcohol Management Healthy Eating Sponsorship and Fundraising Healthy Sports Initiative
The Healthy Sports Initiative Playbook
Is light affecting play? You may have heard Pommie batters whinge about the light as they desperately try to snatch a draw from whichever team is touring their grey and rainy land. But did you know this poor excuse for nervous nellies actually hides a lot of truth? Light really does affect your innings. While you need short periods of gentle sun exposure to help maintain a healthy level of vitamin D, things take a turn for the worse if you stay out too long or ultraviolet (UV) levels hit three or above. At these levels, the sunny days that help Australia outshine everyone out on the oval also help us claim another less desirable crown the country with the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Here, almost twothirds of us will be diagnosed with skin cancer at some point in our lives, and more than two thousand will die from it each year. But it doesn t need to be this way. Nearly all skin cancers can be prevented by protecting yourself from the sun and most can be cured if they are diagnosed and treated early. Simply follow the precautions outlined in this Playbook and encourage the same sun-safe behaviour in your cricket club. If you do, you ll not only put a few runs on the board for your club, you ll help save a few lives too.
The Healthy Sports Initiative Playbook
Protect yourself. The helmet, the pads, the gloves, the box. You may look like a modern day gladiator stepping out to face an onslaught of red-leather beamers, but are you properly protected? Think again. While your body may be safe from the ball, your skin isn t safe from cancer. To protect yourself from skin cancer you need to: Slip on clothing that covers your shoulders, arms and legs. Slop on SPF30+ or higher, broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen. Slap on a broad-brimmed hat that protects your face, ears and neck. Seek shade whenever you can. Slide on a pair of sunnies that meet Aussie safety standards and fit your face well. Remember: If you want a long innings, protect your skin.
The Healthy Sports Initiative Playbook
No one said it would be pretty. Let s be honest. You didn t get into cricket for the glamour, did you? Spending your weekend in a hard-to-find local park wearing off-white, grass stained, pyjamas doesn t scream sexy! Does it? Especially when you ve decided to finish off the outfit by colour coordinating your face with your trousers. But look on the bright side. Whilst that thick layer of zinc covering every inch of your body won t help you win any beauty contests, it will help you win something a lot more important a fit and healthy life. Zinc and sunscreen protect against the damaging effects of the sun by reducing the amount of UV rays that reach the skin. It doesn t provide 100% protection (so use it in conjunction with other sun-safe behaviours) but it does significantly reduce your chances of developing melanoma and other skin cancers. Just slop it on 20 minutes before you go out to play and remember to reapply every two hours. Easy.
The Healthy Sports Initiative Playbook
There s no easy catches in the slips. Every team has one. The player who keeps dropping lollies but keeps insisting that there s no easy catches in the slips! Well guess what? It s not true. Whilst they re giving every excuse under the sun, the fact they were under the sun means there is an easy thing to catch in the slips. Spending time out on the oval, without proper sun protection, increases your chances of catching a melanoma the most dangerous type of skin cancer there is. But there is good news. Simple sun safety measures like clothing, sunscreen, sunglasses and shade can help keep you safe from melanomas, especially when combined with a broad brimmed hat. What s a broad brim? At least 7.5cm for adults and 6cm for children. Enough to cover your face, head, neck, ears and eyes the most common places for skin cancer to develop. And remember: this is cricket, so leave the baseball caps at home. They don t look the part and they don t play the part either; leaving your face, neck and ears dangerously exposed.
The Healthy Sports Initiative Playbook
Not just sunnies. Cricket sunnies. Since the beginning of time, in the late 1980s, shiny fluro cricket sunnies have been passed down from generation to generation. Cooler than Viv Richards scoring the winning runs at Lord s, on a motorbike, dressed as Batman; cricket sunnies don t just look good, they are good. Good at stopping UV radiation. UV radiation causes both short and long-term eye problems, including: excessive blinking, swelling and difficulty looking at strong light. It can also cause cancers and acute photo keratopathy, which is sunburn of the cornea. Luckily, all these problems can be prevented with a pair of category 2 or higher sunglasses that meet Australian Standard AS/NZS 1067:2003 and have an eye protection factor (EPF) of 10. These sunnies absorb 95% of UV radiation and keep your eyes safe from harm. They don t have to be expensive either, as long as they make the grade. Repeat out loud: Cricket sunnies are cool. Cancer is not.
The Healthy Sports Initiative Playbook
Do you have safe hands? Wicket keepers are the rock stars of cricket. They say what they want, when they want and don t even have to train that hard. But there is a downside. Donning those big leather gloves and flinging your mitts towards a fast flying lump of leather can leave your fingers looking like a bag of broken twigs. But don t feel too bad for them. The freakish fingers of a well-seasoned wickie may not be pretty but they are extremely sun-safe. By slipping on a pair of gloves at the start of each innings, a wickie s hands are protected from the damaging effects of UV radiation a lesson every team member can learn. Wearing clothing that covers as much skin as possible (like a long sleeved collared shirt, broad brimmed hat and long trousers) is one of the most effective ways to prevent skin cancer. Especially if the clothing is baggy, made of tightly woven fabric and has a UV protection factor of 15 or higher. Think: It s hard to be as cool as a wickie but it s easy to be as sun-safe as one.
The Healthy Sports Initiative Playbook
How s the weather out there at Cow Corner? Were you late for training? Did you drop a lolly? Did you run out the captain? Whatever you did to be sent to Cow Corner, it s not good. Out there between Deep Mid-wicket and Wide Long-on is no place to be. Especially at 2pm on a hot sunny Saturday. You need to be in cover, extra cover or even deep extra cover. Literally. Shade coverage is one of the best ways to protect yourself from the sun and skin cancer. Good-quality shade can reduce your UV exposure by up to 75% and that s a fact. You can also use it in conjunction with other sun safe behaviour to provide maximum protection against UV radiation. Types of shade to look for include: permanent structures, demountables, off-the-shelf structures and natural vegetation.
The Healthy Sports Initiative Playbook
How to be a Healthy Club: Sun Protection Develop and implement a sun protection policy. Provide adequate shade and promote the use of shade at cricket training, competitions and events. Provide free sunscreen at cricket training, competitions and events and promote the use of sunscreen. Share sun protection information on a regular basis with players and their families. Encourage cricket coaches and officials to role model sun-safe behaviours and promote sun-safe practices for players.
For more information about the Healthy Sports Initiative, visit: cancercouncil.com.au/healthysports For more information about Cancer Council NSW, visit: cancercouncil.com.au 2015 Cancer Council NSW Healthy Sports Initiative
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cancercouncil.com.au/healthysports 2015 Cancer Council NSW