Should My Child Wear Glasses While Playing Sports in Clarks Summit?

Should My Child Wear Glasses While Playing Sports in Clarks Summit?

Have you been pondering whether it is worth it for your child to wear protective glasses while playing sports? Maybe you’ve seen other kids on their sports team or play group wearing them or heard it mentioned by a friend or teacher. In fact, eye protection can be crucial for reducing injuries while playing any sport where balls, pucks, elbows, or other solid objects can potentially collide with your child’s face. If your child needs prescription glasses, it’s essential to have a pair that won’t break while they run, kick, and dodge on the sports field.

Reasons To Wear Safety Glasses

Child in Clarks Summit children's sports wearing safety sports glasses.
Crack by Mario A. P. is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0

Whether or not your child needs corrective lenses, protective glasses can keep sharp and hard objects from causing painful injuries and even permanent damage to a child’s eye. Sports are a common cause of childhood eye injuries, making it important for children to use eye protection during games where baseballs, basketballs, hockey pucks, or other sports equipment can cause serious injuries or even blindness. Don’t let fear of injuries keep your child from enjoying healthy activities that can build confidence, improve motor skills, and increase social bonding. By investing in safety glasses, your child is free to play.

Playing Sports with Prescription Eyewear

If your child wears prescription glasses to improve their vision, you might think you have to choose between them seeing well during sports games or wearing a pair of glasses that can break during any physical contact and risk cutting your child’s face with sharp plastic. This doesn’t have to be the case. There are options available for prescription eyewear specially designed to be safe to wear during certain activities. Being able to see clearly will help your child stay safe because they’ll be able to avoid flying balls and ricocheting rackets better.

Specialty Eyewear for Sports

Prescription or not, specialty sports eyewear is designed with break-resistant materials like ultra-strong polycarbonate to keep your children’s eyes protected and safe. Apart from the materials, the shape of the glasses is also designed to sit close to the face for a secure fit that provides maximum protection. You can even adjust the eyewear with various attachments that can keep the eyewear secured no matter how active your child is. Depending on which sport your child participates in, there are specific styles of eye protectors, such as swimming, snow, or sports goggles for basketball and soccer.

Local Sports Spots

Now that you have information about keeping your children’s eyes safe while playing sports, you might be ready to find some activities they can get involved in. If you live in the beautiful Clarks Summit area of northeastern Pennsylvania, you have quite a few options for local sports, depending on your child’s interests. Do they already have a sport they love? Or are you looking to try out something new to get them excited and maybe find a way to make new friends if you’re new to the area? Here are some local sports spots to check out.

Hillside Park

Hillside Park is a volunteer-run 100-acre regional park with many facilities, including playing fields, pavilions, and gardens. The park is located at 1188 Winola Road, near the Clarks Summit State Hospital and the Scranton Country Club. It has a synthetic turf field and the grass-covered Stroney Soccer Field, both of which are open to everyone for use unless they have been reserved, as well as two softball fields. Hillside Park is home to several local sports programs, including youth football and cheerleading with the Abington Junior Comets, youth soccer, and the Abington Girls’ Softball League.

Birchwood Tennis and Fitness Club

The Birchwood Tennis and Fitness Club offers a broad range of tennis programs for all ages and abilities, including junior programs for children as young as 4. You’ll find fun events, clinics, play days, and lessons provided by experienced tennis professionals. Facilities include six indoor hard courts, two clay courts, a clubhouse, a ball machine, and a tennis shop with racket stringing services. It also offers four indoor pickleball courts. The Birchwood Tennis and Fitness Club is located at 105 Della Road in Clarks Summit and opens every day from 8 a.m. until the last reservation.

Lahey Family Fun Park

At Lahey Family Fun Park, you’ll find a world of fun activities for kids of every inclination. Attractions include miniature golf, go-karts, bumper boats, batting cages, as well as video games, and a prize redemption wall in the indoor arcade. Miniature golf is a fun game and an excellent way for kids to try out the game before getting involved in golfing. You can choose from two 18-hole miniature golf courses that take you through a wooded hillside. Lahey Family Fun Park is located at 500 Morgan Highway and is open every day for the summer season.

Scranton Golf Center

If your children have mastered the mini-golf courses and want to try the real thing, then check out the junior lessons at the Scranton Golf Center. Outdoor lessons are offered in the summertime and take place at the center on Tuesday as well as at the IREM Country Club in Dallas, Pennsylvania, from Wednesday to Saturday. If your kids want to keep learning through the winter, indoor lessons are available using the Scranton Golf Center’s simulators. You’ll also find club repair and fittings at the full-service shop and TaylorMade golf clubs.

Sports can be a fun and healthy way for children to make friends, exercise, and learn physical and cooperative skills that can help them throughout their lives. Whether or not your child needs prescription glasses, they can benefit from protective eyewear if they are playing any sport with a risk of eye injuries. If you’re ready to get your kids eye protection so you don’t have to worry while they enjoy their favorite sports, then contact our team at the Northeastern Eye Institute’s Clarks Summit location. We’ll be happy to set you up with everything you and your child need.