The US Police & Fire Championships are an Olympic-style competition for first responders and public safety personnel across the United States. The annual games draw thousands of athletes from law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, custom and correctional officers, as well as full-time employees (active and retired) of any eligible agency or organization in the capacity of 9-1-1 dispatchers, detention-custodial officers, crime scene investigators, or lifeguards.
The event has a long and distinguished history, which is detailed on its website.
This year, the event will take place in San Diego from Saturday, June 10 to Saturday, June 17. The US Police & Fire Championships are one of four events that the California Police Athletic Federation presents in addition to the bi-annual World Police & Fire Games, the First Responders Relay and the brand-new North American Fall Classic which debuted last year.
Sports Destination Management: It sounds like a great event. What type of sports do you offer?
Jim King: Quite a variety. We have, of course, the Olympic-style games with track & field, shooting sports and so on, but we have also seen that people like to stay with the sports they did in high school or college so there is softball, indoor soccer, baseball, flag football, dodgeball, cross country, bench press – plus plenty of other things like pickleball, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, CrossFit®, disc golf and a lot more.
SDM: Have the sports changed over the years?
King: They have. You have to figure that 20 years ago, nobody knew what Brazilian jiu-jitsu was. We try to keep growing and giving people what they want. At the same time, people have stopped being as interested in events like biathlon or decathlon. At the level of our competition, my theory is that in the USA, we’re not short on things to do, in terms of hobbies and sports, so we just try to see what people are interested in and go from there.
Note: A full list of sports can be found on the website here.
SDM: Do you also have social events?
King: Yes, we do. In addition to our opening and closing ceremonies, we have tried to incorporate social and educational aspects. We have, for example, a chiefs’ forum so that people can interact with one another, talk about common problems and make new contacts. Something it all comes down to, with every person of every stripe, is that they have so much to talk about. A lot of good friendships are made.
SDM: What is the demographic like, in terms of male/female ratio?
King: It’s a male-dominated industry and that’s unfortunate, but the demographic has been changed and we are seeing more women getting into all fields – of course, we’d love to see even more. We have some women’s events at our games and those have been very well attended.
SDM: Are teams for sports like softball and baseball just made up of police members or fire department members, for example, or can they be multi-disciplinary?
King: We allow for agencies to intermingle; one of the most important parts of this is the camaraderie among the services. We have not just police and firefighters but people who work in customs, corrections officers, the DNR – it is a great opportunity for people to meet one another.
SDM: And to try to beat the people who beat them last year?
King: Oh, that too. Definitely.
SDM: There is also a world version of the games.
King: Yes, in 1985, the people who started these games started worlds. Those have been held every two years; the exception to that was the 2021 Games, which were delayed to last year. I really feel for the people who worked so long and hard to finally put that on.
SDM: You have been in San Diego for a long time. Do you want to stay there, or would you consider rotating to different areas?
King: We’ve started to expand our outreach; I’d say we might look at rotating to different cities.
SDM: What would you be looking for?
King: We want to know whether a city has what it takes to host 50 events, and to work with our very committed coordinators to help identify the best venues and put on the best possible event. I would say that is something we will not compromise on: the venues. But we really do want to give our competitors the best of the best, so we’d be interested in expanding our horizons and hearing from other cities.
SDM: Where can people go for more information?
King: Everything, whether you want to compete or host, is on our website, cpaf.org.
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