Why Sports Glasses Are Worth The Investment

I have been wearing corrective lenses since I was twelve years old. I also came from a family full of sports fans: four boys and a girl who grew up to be a sportswriter. We played soccer, football, baseball, basketball and tennis for the most part. By the time I had to take to the baseball diamond wearing glasses, I joined a long list of athletes who required corrective lenses to play sports. It's no picnic wearing glasses while trying to deliver your peak athletic performance. They can be damaged easily by flying balls or swinging elbows. They can get fogged up from your body heat, stained by dirt and sweat, covered with water drops if you're playing in the rain, and they can be a distraction if they slide down your nose. This still happens to me when I jog. I still recall quite vividly the most serious issue I had with my glasses while playing sports. I was playing baseball, pitching for the city team. The batter hit a ground ball to the first baseman. I ran towards the bag to cover the base, as a pitcher is supposed to do. I was a good five feet in front of the runner, and I looked down to make sure I wasn't going to stray into the runner's path, which would result in an interference call. Next thing I know, I feel a sharp impact on the side of my head, and I find myself knocked off my feet and rolling in the dirt. The first baseman had thrown the ball while I wasn't looking, and it struck the corner of my glasses, knocking them off. I found them sitting in the dirt, and the metal arm that had absorbed the impact was now bent at a ninety-degree angle to the position it needed to be in to fit on my head. There was a bleeding wound on my eyebrow from the impact. One of my coaches, a glasses-wearer himself, managed to bend the arm back into a wearable position. Had he not done that, I would have had to leave the game, and in just the second inning. The runner was safe, but I got out of the inning without giving up any runs. That pair of glasses would later survive a direct impact from a kicked soccer ball in high school gym class without suffering any damage. Not long after that, I began wearing contact lenses. Did I learn my lesson? Not really. My rebellious side, along with an admiration for relief pitchers Goose Gossage and Kent Tekulve, led to me wearing wire-framed sunglasses while I pitched. If you are more safety-conscious than I was, fortunately there are functional and stylish prescription sports goggles that are designed to withstand the impacts and roughhousing that are commonly encountered in sports such as basketball, baseball and football, as well as for individual activities like rock climbing and mountain biking. They are made from durable materials that are not only strong, but lightweight, and designed to stay in place no matter how much the wearer moves.