A face guard for a sports helmet, comprising a plurality of wires arranged as a grid and wherein at least one of the wires has a cross-section with a periphery having a first maximal dimension in a first direction and a second maximal dimension in a second direction intersecting the first direction, the second maximal dimension being less than the first maximal dimension. Each of the at least one of the wires may have an elliptical cross-section with a major axis and a minor axis, wherein a ratio of the minor axis to the major axis may be between 0.2 and 0.9. Each of the at least one of the wires may have a portion to be at least partially located within a field of view of a wearer wearing the face guard.