FIELD HOCKEY PLAYERS WILL BE REQUIREDTO WEAR PROTECTIVE EYEWEAR STARTING 2011-12
INDIANAPOLIS — High school field hockey players will be required to wear protective eyewear, effective with the 2011-12 season.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Board of Directors, in a meeting earlier this month 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 nationally participating in high school field hockey.
Although it is not a championship sport in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, a number of NCHSAA schools do have field hockey programs.
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.
The revised language to mandate protective eyewear will appear in the 2011-12 NFHS Field Hockey Rules Book.
