LIBERTY SPORT

More than 600,000 eye injuries related to sports and recreation occur each year1. 42,000 of these injuries are of a severity that requires Emergency Room attention.2
More than 90% of all eye injuries can be prevented with the use of appropriate protective eyewear.3
Sports participants using "street wear" (corrective eyewear or sunwear that does not conform to ASTM standard F803) are at a far more severe risk of eye injury than participants using no eye protection at all.4
The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Ophthalmology and American Optometric Association all strongly recommend protective eyewear for all participants in sports in which there is a risk of eye injury.5
The following sports are considered a high-to-moderate risk of eye injury: Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Lacrosse, Hockey, Tennis, Soccer, Volleyball, Water Polo, Football, Air Rifle, BB Gun, Paintball, Boxing, Martial Arts, Cricket, Squash, Racquetball, Fencing, Badminton, Fishing and Golf.6
One-in-eighteen college athletes will sustain an eye injury each season. The odds increase to one-in-ten for basketball players.7
One-in-eight victims of severe eye injury, and one-in-twenty victims of less-severe eye injury, initiate legal proceedings against parties assumed to be responsible.8
A market sampling in Michigan9 determined that:
-97% of high schools do not have a Sports Vision Program
-98% of high school coaches would be interested in a Sports Vision Program
-99% of high schools have never been approached regarding the establishment of a Sports Vision Program
According to the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, 84.6% of children do not utilize protective eyewear in situations that represent a risk of eye injury.
Increasing the use of protective eyewear in sports is a goal of the National Institute of Health's "Healthy People 2010".10