Soccer player Camille Walters, 15, wears contact lenses specially designed to help athletes see better. The 15-year-old wears tinted contact lenses that block certain wavelengths of light and help athletes see better.
And they look pretty cool too.
So what is all the hype about...
Walters and a growing number of other athletes are wearing the MaxSight lenses, which were developed jointly by Nike Inc. and contact lens maker Bausch & Lomb Inc.
The lens -- large enough to extend a ring around the iris -- comes in two colors: amber and grey-green.
The amber lens is for fast-moving ball sports, such as tennis, baseball, football or soccer. Grey-green is better for blocking glare for runners or helping a golfer read the contour of the ground.
And professional athletes are joining the better sight club as well.
Golfer Michelle Wie and baseball players Ken Griffey Jr. and A.J. Pierzynski wear MaxSight lenses, along with members of Manchester United, the U.S. men's soccer team and the Texas Longhorns football team.
So what do the group in charge for leveling the playing field feel about the lenses?
Jerry Diehl, assistant director of the National Federation of State High School Associations in Indianapolis, Indiana, said his group doesn't believe the lenses provide the competitive advantage that Nike claims.
The federation allows the lenses and puts them in the same category as sunglasses or corrective lenses. The NCAA also allows the sports lenses because it considers them similar to sunglasses.
The biggest problem high school and collegate sports regulators see is the perception that the "edge" you gain from wearing such lenses will create the "need" for all athletes.
"If one affluent team can get this, it forces everybody else to go out and do that," Diehl said. "Is it really something that makes a difference? In this instance, at this juncture anyway, it doesn't seem to be any better or any worse than allowing what is already under the rule."
Athletes seem to really like the advantage they get. You can obtain the MaxSight lenses only through an eye doctor for $80 per box ($160 if you need different corrective lenses for each eye).
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/06/06/sports.lenses.ap/index.html
Wow they have everything for everyone these days.
I thought Ken Griffey Jr. was retired??? And I don't think that those are neccessary and they seem kind of expensive because you would have to keep getting new pairs.
I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him. ~Booker T. Washington
Just like new shoes or uniforms or any sort of athletic equipment -- you eventually replace the old with new, better versions.
They are no more expensive than regular contacts -- and they protect your eyes while blocking the sun much like sunglasses (as contacts).
I'm not sure about Ken Griffey, Jr's retirement (or not)...that was quoted from the article.