Refs’ eyesight not up to par, study shows
Globe and Mail
Toronto, Canada
June 30, 1983
Sports fans have always believed it, but now it’s been proved: Some umpires and referees can’t see very well.
Arthur Seiderman, a Philadelphia optometrist who specializes in the vision problems of athletes, says a study of sports officials shows that some of them not only lack 20-20 vision but also have poor depth perception and other sight problems.
Seiderman, in a report to the annual meeting of the American Optometric Association, said he studied the vision of 40 umpires and referees between the ages of 27 and 57 who officiate at all types of college, high school and amateur sports competitions. The study found that 72 per cent of the officials had normal 20-20 vision either naturally or with corrective lenses. However, 28 per cent did not have normal. vision, including one person with sight so bad that he appeared barely qualified to drive a car, Seiderman said in an interview.
Even more surprising, he said, was the finding that 30 per cent of the officials had problems with depth perception and spatial localization, by which people visualize distance and the location of objects in relation to other objects. These skills come into play in judging from a distance whether a player or a ball is in or out of bounds. For example, it is important to know if the running back with the football stepped out of bounds while heading for the goal line, or if a tennis ball hits on a court line or over.
“We found that the large majority of sports officials have excellent vision but some could use help in judging line calls from a distance,” Seiderman said. Ironically, he said, some officials who have eyeglasses do not wear them during games because fans see spectacles as a sign of eyesight problems and sometimes jeer.
While glasses or contact lenses can correct traditional eye problems, it takes hours of special training and eye exercises to overcome perception difficulties, he said.
The specialist said perceptual problems cannot be diagnosed with traditional eye tests because these tests are done with stationary equipment in the confines of an office. Full perception examinations require using both a moving patient and moving sight targets to simulate vision under working conditions.
Seiderman is director of the Sports Vision Centre of Philadelphia, an operation located in Veterans Stadium to serve the eye needs of teams using the facility. Many athletes have been diagnosed and treated at the centre for perception problems, but no umpires or referees have been patients although some apparently could use the services, he said. Seiderman conducted the eye study last year at a meeting of the National Association of Sports Officials, an organization representing 9,000 officials who oversee such sports as football, basketball, baseball and tennis.
Barry Mano, president of the association, said that there are no required eye examinations or even minimal visual standards for sports officials and that there hasn’t been a call for such requirements. “I hear basketball referees say they look up at the big scoreboard and have difficulty reading the numbers,” Mano said. “But you’ve never heard of a ref being fired because of bad eyesight.”
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New Your Times
June 30, 1983
Myopic Officials
One-fourth of those who officiate at college and other amateur sports events lack normal vision. according to a Philadelphia optometrist who specializes in the vision problems of athletes. Dr. Arthur Seiderman, in a report presented at the annual meeting of the American Optometric Association in Washington, said he had studied the vision of 40 umpires and referees between the ages of 27 and 57 who officiated at all types of amateur sports competition. Thirty percent of those studied had problems visualizing distance and the position of objects in relation to other objects,” he said. We found that the large majority of sports officials bad excellent vision but some could use help in judging line calls from a distance.” Some officials, he noted, do not wear their eyeglasses during athletic events because the fans would find them objects of derision.
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Boston Herald
June 30, 1983
Now study proves it – the ump really is blind
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sports fans have always believed it, but now its been proved. Some umpires and referees can’t see very well. Arthur Seiderman, a Philadelphia optometrist who specializes in the vision problems of athletes, says a study of sports officials shows that some of them not only lack 20/20 vision but also have poor depth perception and other sight problems.
Seiderman, in a report yesterday to the American Optometric Association, said he studied the vision of 40 umpires and referees between the ages of 27 and 57 who officiate at all types of college, high school and amateur sports competitions. The study found that 72 percent of the officials had normal 20/20 vision either naturally or with corrective lenses. But 28 percent did not have normal vision, including one person with sight so bad that he appeared barely qualified to drive a car, Seiderman said in an interview.
Even more surprising, he said, was the finding that 30 percent of the officials had problems with depth perception and spacial localization, by which people visualize distance and the location of objects in relation to other objects.
These skills come into play in judging from a distance whether a player or a ball is in or out of bounds. Ironically, he said, some officials who have glasses do not wear them during games because fans see spectacles as a sign of eyesight problems.
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Gazette
Quebec, Canada
July 9, 1983
Umpires strike out in sight test
WASHINGTON (UPI) — A Philadelphia optometrist who studied sports officials finds some referees and umpires should not call them the way they see them.
Dr. Arthur Seiderman said in a recent report before the American Optometric Association’s 84th annual congress that the majority of 40 officials the association screened in July 1982, “have excellent vision but some could use help in judging line calls from a distance.” Seiderman said 72 per cent of the tested umpires and referees who officiate at college, high school and amateur sports have 20-20 eyesight and excellent eye movement skills needed to track moving objects.
However, the study conducted at a meeting of the National Association of Sports Officials in Philadelphia found that nearly 30 per cent of those tested struck out in two skills used to judge distances: depth perception and space localization. Routine tests using eye charts cannot detect problems in these skills, used by baseball and tennis referees to judge if balls are in or out of bounds. Seiderman said special sport vision screening designed for officials and athletes must be thorough to pinpoint the degree of the problem and its remedy.
Sometimes lenses are used to correct perception problems, more often therapy by an optometrist can co-ordinate eye muscles, straighten the eye alignment and improve focusing, Seiderman said.
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San Diego Tribune
June 30, 1983
Sports fans, it’s true – some umpires really can’t see
Sports fans have always believed It, but now It’s been proven. Some umpires and referees can’t see very well. Arthur Seiderman, a Philadelphia optometrist who specializes in the vision problems of athletes, says a study of sports officials shows that some of them not only lack 20/20 vision but also have poor depth perception and other sight problems.
Selderman, in a report that was to be presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Optometric Association in Washington, said he studied the vision of 40 umpires and referees between the ages of 27 and 57 who officiate at all types of college, high school and amateur sports competitions.
The study found that 72 percent of the officials had normal 20/20 vision either naturally or with corrective lenses. But 28 percent did not have normal vision, including one person with sight so bad that he appeared barely qualified to drive a car, Selderman said In an Interview. Even more surprising, he said, was the finding that 30 percent of the officials had problems with depth perception and spatial localization, by which people visualize distance and the location of objects in relation to other objects. These skills come into play in judging from a distance whether a player or a ball Is In or out of bounds. For example, it’s important to know If the running back with the football stepped out of bounds while heading !or the goal line or It a tennis ball hits on a court line or over.
“We found that the large majority of sports officials have excellent vision but some could use help In judging line calls from a distance,” said Selderman. Ironically, he said, some officials who have glasses do not wear them during games because fans see spectacles as a sign of eyesight problems and sometimes jeer.
Seiderman conducted the eye study last year at a meeting of the National Association of Sports Officlals, an organization representing 9,000 officials who oversee such sports as football, basketball, baseball and tennis. Barry Mano, president of the association, said there are no required eye examinations or even minimal visual standards for sports officials. And he says there hasn’t been a call for such requirements. “I hear basketball referees say they look up at the big scoreboard and have difficulty reading the numbers,” Mano said. “But you’ve never heard of a ref being fired because of bad eyesight.”
