Sun protection during sport

Many Victorians get sunburnt during sport and recreation activities.

Popular sports such as cricket, tennis, golf, lawn bowls, athletics and surfing are generally played between September and April. Whether playing or spectating, it can mean spending hours in the sun when UV levels are extreme. Protecting yourself using the five sun protection steps is particularly important.

In January, unprotected skin can burn in as little as 15 minutes. Even if you don't burn, spending this much time outdoors adds to your lifetime tally of UV exposure and can increase your skin cancer risk.

Tips for clubs

Protect your members, employees, volunteers and spectators by making sun protection a safety and wellbeing feature of your club's policies and practices.

We recommend clubs develop and promote a sun protection policy that includes:

• promoting and using the SunSmart UV Alert
• scheduling training times, competitions and outdoor events outside UV Alert times when possible
• planning for and providing shade; encourage players and spectators to take advantage of natural shade from buildings and trees. Add portable shading or consider building permanent shade in popular outdoor spots
• encouraging people to bring their own portable shade to club events
• encouraging coaches and club officials to be sun protection role models
• providing or encouraging participants and officials to wear sun protective clothing as part of the team uniform and during training sessions
• promoting the use of SPF 30+ broad spectrum, water resistant sunscreen. Your club may even consider having a supply on site
• encouraging spectators to come to events prepared for the outdoors by reminding them to be SunSmart. Promote sun protection during the day with signage, announcements and providing sunscreen for unprepared spectators
• educating club members and coaches about skin cancer and sun protection; put articles in your newsletter, display a poster and use a blackboard to display the UV Alert for the day; you may even consider running an information session.

You know your sport and what will work. Make your policy practical and achievable. For example, tennis players are unlikely to wear a broad brimmed hat, but using sunscreen, sunglasses, other hats and a collared, elbow length shirt is feasible. Lawn bowls players can wear broad brimmed hats, covering clothing, sunscreen and sunglasses. They could even stand in the shade between bowls.

Download the UV exposure and heat illness guide [pdf 1.46MB] and a modifiable Word document to develop your own guidelines.

Find out more about sun protection around water.

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