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Rules and Briefings

NFHS Rules Now Require Protective Eyewear
By UmpireHockey.com
Apr 15, 2011 - 1:00:00 PM

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According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), field hockey players competing in games between high schools will be required to wear protective eyewear, effective with the 2011-12 season.

This does NOT include elementary and middle school athletes.

The NFHS Board of Directors, in its April 13 meeting in Indianapolis, voted to mandate the use of protective eyewear that meets the current American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard for field hockey.

Acting on a recommendation from the NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, the Board agreed that the potential risk of injury warranted the requirement of protective eyewear for the 64,000 student-athletes participating in high school field hockey.

The rule change will generate approximately $5,000,000 in sales for those selling protective eyeware products. Many in the sport speculate that financial interests, not injury protection has motivated this requirement.

"Field hockey is played in 132 countries across six continents. It's played by children and adults; males and females. Eye protection is not required at any other level on the planet," said UmpireHockey.com publisher Cris Maloney. "Not in elementary schools, not in middle schools, not in colleges, not in clubs, not in international competitions."

"While serious eye injuries in field hockey are rare, the NFHS Board of Directors has concluded that an eyewear requirement is the right step," said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS director of educational services and field hockey rules editor.

NFHS field hockey rules previously allowed - but did not require - the wearing of eyewear that meets the current ASTM standard. Six NFHS-member state associations had previously passed more stringent rules and already mandate the use of protective eyewear.

While the revised language to mandate protective eyewear will apparently appear in the 2011-12 NFHS Field Hockey Rules Book, an outcry against the measure is being raised by field hockey players, coaches and umpires.

According to various studies* the rate of eye injuries in field hockey is rare (two in a million) and is far less likely to have eye injuries than many other sports that the NFHS does not require eyewear. Far and away the sports that have the highest rate of eye injuries are baseball and basketball.

Here's one example from the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. In 2010 it showed that of the 275 hospital emergency room visits for trauma to the eyeball. Sixty happened during basketball games, 30 were from football, 23 from baseball and 15 were from soccer. Only one of the injuries happened in field hockey. It happened in a physical education class when something blew into the student's eye.

Of note is that the NFHS allows athletes to wear eye protection that is specifically banned from the game due to danger by the world's field hockey authority, the International Hockey Federation. There is hope that for this reason and others, individual states might modify the mandate and simply allow athletes who elect to wear eye protection to do so.

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* Studies were by A. E. Lincoln, ScD, MS, et al. 2010. Trends In Sports-related Concussion Incidence At The High School Level, 1997-2008 and Paul R. Hoey, Associate Executive Director, Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC). Fall 2007. Do Goggles Prevent Eye Injuries in Field Hockey? A Preliminary Scorecard. Connecticut SPORTSMed

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