The Ref Stop

Kids wearing glasses

T

Trip

RefChat Addict
Level 5 Referee
My son is 6 and is just about to start his first season playing for a U7 side. It's quite likely I will be refereeing some of his games. I don't normally do youth football and I've never done games below U13.

In his first friendly last week one of the kids was wearing glasses. Normal glasses, no strap. He was even playing in goal for part of the game. Nobody batted an eyelid.

My other son only has one working eye (congenital defect) so I am probably a bit oversensitive to kids doing things that endanger their sight. Would you allow this?
 
The Ref Stop
No, not if you ask the question and they say they are normal glasses. Luckily for me, they had straps and looked correct so I wasn't put in that position!!!
 
Trip said:
My son is 6 and is just about to start his first season playing for a U7 side. It's quite likely I will be refereeing some of his games. I don't normally do youth football and I've never done games below U13.

In his first friendly last week one of the kids was wearing glasses. Normal glasses, no strap. He was even playing in goal for part of the game. Nobody batted an eyelid.

My other son only has one working eye (congenital defect) so I am probably a bit oversensitive to kids doing things that endanger their sight. Would you allow this?
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Seems to be the norm for pre-teen kids in my experience
 
As a ref who wears glasses due to a bad experience with contact lenses I am often asked by parents why am I wearing glasses as it sets a bad example to the kids when i tell players especially in winter that they probably shouldn't play as they are at risk off getting hit. Which I understand but if they want the game refereeing then I'll have to wear them. Any advice of what to do in this situation would be very much appreciated.
 
Check with your league. One of the youth leagues I officiate in have just announced a partnership with Specsavers; you get a huge discount on sports glasses and then also I think around £20 that you pay for the glasses is given back to you by the league. I'll find a link to post
 
Rowanmano said:
As a ref who wears glasses due to a bad experience with contact lenses I am often asked by parents why am I wearing glasses as it sets a bad example to the kids when i tell players especially in winter that they probably shouldn't play as they are at risk off getting hit. Which I understand but if they want the game refereeing then I'll have to wear them. Any advice of what to do in this situation would be very much appreciated.
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Could you not wear contacts?
 
Rowanmano said:
As a ref who wears glasses due to a bad experience with contact lenses I am often asked by parents why am I wearing glasses as it sets a bad example to the kids when i tell players especially in winter that they probably shouldn't play as they are at risk off getting hit. Which I understand but if they want the game refereeing then I'll have to wear them. Any advice of what to do in this situation would be very much appreciated.
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You just need to get glasses with poly-carbonate lenses and a strap at the back. Most opticians will do them. They are not expensive.
 
Not sure what protocols are in the UK, but in the US it is now almost impossible to get glasses that have glass in them. All of them are some sort of plastic of varying degrees of quality. IMHO, a kid who wears glasses is safer with them on (so she can see) than with them off. I will recommend to kids that they get a strap, but the strap really does more to protect the glasses from falling off and getting broken than anything else.
 
Rowanmano said:
As a ref who wears glasses due to a bad experience with contact lenses I am often asked by parents why am I wearing glasses as it sets a bad example to the kids when i tell players especially in winter that they probably shouldn't play as they are at risk off getting hit. Which I understand but if they want the game refereeing then I'll have to wear them. Any advice of what to do in this situation would be very much appreciated.
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If you as a referee are at such a risk of being hit that wearing glasses is dangerous, there are bigger problems to worry about.
Players should expect, indeed are often intending to play the ball with their head or be hit from close range at any part of the body. Referees just aren't expecting that, in fact the exact opposite, trying to avoid it at all times.
If anything it sets an example of how different expectations apply to different roles; if they see it as somehow a double standard, that's an issue for their parenting.
 
I wouldn't allow it and have stopped children from playing unfortunately who wear glasses and can't play wthout them. After the recent incident involving a child in Bolton (I think) where a child lost their sight in one eye in a match after being stuck by a ball when wearing glasses, I err on the side of extreme caution, not wanting that on my conscience if I was officiating.
 
When a player has glasses in my game, I speak to their manager and warn them I’m fine for them to play but I’m not taking any responsibility for injuries caused to the player. This works for me.
 
Anonymous said:
When a player has glasses in my game, I speak to their manager and warn them I’m fine for them to play but I’m not taking any responsibility for injuries caused to the player. This works for me.
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Saying you’re not liable doesn’t necessarily make you not liable though, so just watch out
 
Rowanmano said:
As a ref who wears glasses due to a bad experience with contact lenses I am often asked by parents why am I wearing glasses as it sets a bad example to the kids when i tell players especially in winter that they probably shouldn't play as they are at risk off getting hit. Which I understand but if they want the game refereeing then I'll have to wear them. Any advice of what to do in this situation would be very much appreciated.
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You're not likely to head the ball. Thats the difference. How do you cope with glasses in the rain?
 
Of all the equipment a player might wear I've always considered glasses to have the most potential for injury. I find that conventional glasses are generally not acceptable at any age/level of organised football. In my area this is something that the local youth leagues and associations are very strong about. My son played with sports glasses since ~ 2008 and at that time they were quite expensive but there are much cheaper options available now.
 
Anonymous said:
When a player has glasses in my game, I speak to their manager and warn them I’m fine for them to play but I’m not taking any responsibility for injuries caused to the player. This works for me.
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That works for you until that child gets a serious injury and then the parents come for you because you said you were fine for them to play. I know I'm being cynical and over cautious and maybe a spoil sport stopping a child from playing football and I have received a lot of stick when I've enforced this but I just don't trust that this won't come back on me if something goes wrong
 
Just remember that many sports glasses look just like normal glasses first, so make sure you have your facts straight before banning their use otherwise you could end up looking a bit jobsworth if it turns out they are safe.

Also remember that the official FA policy posted above by Zarathustra specifically states that for kids football the lenses don't necessarily need to be polycarbonate.
 
I was at a kids tournament today, our lads were U7, I saw caps, jewellery, glasses and some strange coloured undershorts.... some of the brethren would have been foaming at the mouth!! :)
 
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