The researchers hope to reduce the binge drinking
associated with football, but know that the culture won't
change overnight.
Image: iStockphoto
Taking binge drinking out of club culture is the aim of a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, the Australian Football League (AFL) and the AFL Players’ Association (AFLPA).
The AFL–University collaboration has worked to develop an alcohol framing policy which can be used by football clubs to guide the development of their own alcohol policies.
The project won an Excellence Award at the 2008 University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellors’ Knowledge Transfer Awards.
Associate Professor John Fitzgerald (Melbourne School of Population Health) says the project began when the AFL Research Board and AFLPA approached the University about conducting research into the issue of footballers and alcohol following a series of negative incidents off-field.
The research broadly looked at the volume, consumption, patterns and risk and protective factors in drinking and included a survey of the players where they answered questions about their drinking, attitudes to alcohol and alcohol policy, their drinking environments and the outcomes from drinking.
AFLPA General Manager Psychology, People & Culture. Dr Pippa Grange, comments that in Australian society binge drinking in itself is a significant issue. “We wanted to find out what was specific to this particular population of footballers,” she says.
“Previously our alcohol work revolved around education and pathways for extreme drinkers but that is not generally the drinking pattern of most footballers.”
Research and other work on the policy has been in progress since 2006. “We are aware that with around 700 players in the AFL the culture is not going to change overnight,” says Dr Grange.
Associate Professor Fitzgerald says alcohol has a different social meaning from illicit drugs as it holds a very different place in everyday life. It is in some sense part of our national identity and has a particular relationship with sport in terms of commercial relationships. For example in the USA $US540 million is spent on alcohol advertising in sport in the broadcast sector alone.
“In essence how a club deals with alcohol can be part of its competitive edge – if they are performing badly off-field and not managing their alcohol consumption then it affects team morale, the club brand and their on-field performance.”
Associate Professor Fitzgerald and Dr Grange consulted widely with alcohol experts, police, player delegates and CEOs and Operations Managers from football clubs and received an overwhelmingly positive response to the policy. They know that a successful club alcohol policy would have to resonate with existing club culture and the players would need to lead development of policy.
The AFL framing policy provides principles to follow. Club policies must be oriented to the players’ welfare, enhance awareness of the harms associated with risky drinking, reduce those risks and create environments conducive to responsible alcohol consumption.
“I’ve learnt that a simple one-size-fits-all response to alcohol in football simply doesn’t work – the degree to which alcohol is intertwined with this sport, sports administration and commercial sporting activity was a real eye-opener,” says Associate Professor Fitzgerald.
“No sporting code has followed this path before. It is breaking new ground and opening up new knowledge about the way this world works.”
Dr Grange says the policy is based on common sense and the principles of harm reduction, not abstinence.
“You can’t presume homogeneity about footballers’ drinking and you need guidelines which give people room to move. Alcohol is such a complicated issue in our culture. It is legally and totally ingrained. This issue is really also about all of us – it is not just about the players: it is about society as a whole,” she says.
Editor's Note: First published in the University of Melbourne Voice. The original story can be found here. |
