Safety glasses are important, but so is head protection. I was watching the event on NASA TV and saw a match on Curie where #301 fall over with its arm fully extended and whacked a worker on the skull. She turned and took several steps away from the field holding her head in her hands. The camera cut after this, so I don't know how badly she was hurt.
NIOSH approved hard hats cost less than $10. They cost less, in fact, than good quality safety glasses.
I've posted this on Delphi several times, and emailed FIRST on this issue (without response). I am going to continue to pursue a goal of FIRST requiring hard hats for any game where hard, heavy objects are held over head level. The current Lego and VEX competitions would be exempted
. To be zealous about eye protection while ignoring the risk of head injuries is foolish.
For what it's worth, I couldn't even convince the mentors on our team to make hard hats mandatory, but two students on 1294 did listen to me and bring their own.