Photo Courtesy of Katie Goings
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kaiden Goings, 6, of Hilliard has had his prescription googles for six months in preparation for his very first year of youth baseball.
Because of COVID-19 he’ll have to wait a little bit longer to get back on the baseball diamond, but his mom can be rest assured his eyes are safe from a fall or injury.
“I know that he can wear them and then, you know, they’ve got these straps around them so we don’t have to worry about him losing them. Or you know if he falls or tumbles or something, they’re going to stay on,” said Katie Goings.
The Goings family heard about the Superspecs protective eyewear program at the doctor’s office.
The program is run by the Ohio Ophthalmological Society and focuses on Youth sports—baseball, softball, soccer and basketball.
Superspecs distributes 20,000 protective eyewear, helmets and masks each year.
Program Director Laura Rosenberg said Superspecs is the only program of its kind in the U.S.
“We are funded through a grant though the Ohio Department of Health ‘Save our Sight’ fund. Which is a voluntary fund in which citizens of Ohio give a dollar when they renew or apply for their license plates. Every year, more than 45,000 sports and recreation related eye injuries happen in the United States and are treated in emergency rooms throughout the country,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg said 90 percent of those injuries could be prevented with proper eye protection.
Since the program—originally named “Play Hard Don’t Blink”—was started in 1999, more than 80,000 pieces of eyewear have been distributed across the state.
“And what we find is kids, the younger that they are, that they can get use to wearing the protective gear, the more they like wearing the gear. And the more these safe playing practices become the norm for them,” says Rosenberg.
Superspecs recently expanded its reach to serve career and technical students—like those studying dental hygiene, HVAC, engineering and architectural design.
For Kaiden, he loves his new goggles and never takes them off.
And although baseball will have to wait until next season, he’s still keeping active during the dog days of summer.
“I’ve been playing in the backyard, riding four-wheelers, camping,” said Kaden.
Superspecs is currently accepting applications for free protective eyewear and equipment for children ages 18 and younger.
Applications for the 2020-21 season are available on Superspecs.org.
Allow six weeks for the prescription googles to arrive.
