WOODBURY — Meet Ashton Elsemore and Hailey Goldman, both students here at Nonnewaug. Not only are they both good students, but they’re also prominent athletes.

Elsemore, a freshman, has started several varsity baseball games as the first baseman — quite impressive for a rookie, especially considering he can’t always clearly see the baseball. Goldman, a sophomore who was an All-Berkshire League honorable mention selection last fall, has a similar issue on the soccer field.

Elsemore has had glasses that have been collecting dust on his dresser for years. In fact, I’ve been friends him for basically our entire career as students, and I forgot that he even had glasses.

“I’ve had glasses since third grade,” Elsemore said. “I didn’t really want them because I didn’t really like them. I had to use them for reading because I could never really see words well.”

And Goldman had glasses that she wears occasionally but not while playing sports.

“I’ve had [glasses] for a few years now, since like seventh grade,” Goldman says. “I don’t like wearing them because I didn’t grow up wearing them and they are very hard to get used to.”

You’re probably wondering why they don’t wear them while playing sports. Elsemore says that he does not think his vision is an issue on the baseball field, so he leaves them at home.

“I don’t really think that it’s really me needing glasses that affects my performance,” Elsemore says. “I think it’s me getting my head out [in my swing] and me not being able to concentrate and focus sometimes.”

While that could be part of it, Elsemore doesn’t seem to see the big picture about his vision. He admits that his eyesight “could be a part of it” based on a recent story about trying to hit against a good pitcher.

“I could see the ball coming out of his hand, and then when it got to me, I’d lose it,” Elsemore admitted. “It felt like it got blurry to me and I couldn’t see it.”

Although Elsemore may be in denial about needing glasses or contacts, Goldman is not in denial about having bad vision.

“In September, this past soccer season, it got a little bit darker out on the turf and we were practicing,” Goldman says, “and we were using a white ball and the ball kind of blended in with the white line and I missed it and it went out of bounds during a practice.”

Although I can see not wanting to wear glasses, there is no shame in wearing them in sports. After all, all-time great athletes like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a Hall of Fame basketball player, and Eric Dickerson, a Hall of Famer football star, are best known for their goggled looks. If it will improve your performance, you should get glasses (or at least some contacts).

Unlike Elsemore and Goldman, Nonnewaug sophomore baseball and football player Brayden Whipple wanted to get glasses even though he thinks that they won’t have a large effect on baseball.

“Distance was starting to get blurry,” Whipple said. “It’s not even part of the game.”

Still, Whipple admitted that “anything can help.” 

But some athletes don’t even think improved vision would help them that much. Goldman says that she would not be better if she wore glasses.

“No matter how bad my vision is, it never really affects me because I play soccer mentally not physically,” Goldman said.

I know I have been saying that they should be using contacts or glasses, but I really can’t see myself wearing them in any of my sports. It’s easy to say that someone is in denial — even if they are — but there is no way I would be wearing glasses in any of their positions.

This is the opinion of Chief Advocate reporter Grayson Leveille, a freshman at Nonnewaug.