The Community Athletic Leaders – Finding New Ways to Celebrate

The local college town has a community tradition at nearly all of its outdoor sporting events (including secondary, post-secondary and minor league) of firing rifles during to signal when the home team scores a point or wins a game.

Informal discussion has occurred for many years about the impact of artillery noise on members of the community who are military veterans, particularly those who are managing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The artillery noises may at times induce anxiety and panic, and for that reason, many community members who are activated by such sounds avoid sporting events and their vicinity.

A local group of concerned citizens has organized in response to these informal discussions to create a more inclusive sporting culture for people of differing emotional and mental abilities. The organizing group includes veterans, athletes and athletic leaders. The group organizes a social media campaign and invites community members to participate in formal dialogue in multiple modalities, online and in person. The campaign is successful in engaging diverse community voices, in particular amplifying the perspectives and experiences of veterans in the community. The campaign inspires athletic leaders in the community to convene, and after some discussion, local high school and college administrators elect to forgo artillery celebrations at institutional sporting events.

Key Take-Aways
  • The Issue: A community tradition of firing artillery to celebrate at local high school and college athletic events has resulted in the marginalization of veterans with PTSD.
  • The Deliberation: Community leaders initiate a social media campaign to raise awareness and facilitate dialogue online and in person.
  • The Growth: Support for changes to the community tradition grows, and local athletic leaders convene and agree to forgo the artillery tradition, and formalize a change that enables fuller participation in sporting events for all members of the community.