ST. LOUIS--A group of 25 American Optometric Association Sports Vision Section member doctors and students of optometry provided free vision evaluations for more than 270 athletes who competed in the recent Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games in Virginia Beach, Va.

The evaluation program, sponsored by CIBA Vision, the eyecare unit of Novartis (NYSE: NVS), is intended to ensure that problems in the visual system do not limit athletic performance, to increase the visual performance of the individual athlete and to raise awareness of the importance of healthy vision and vision care to the young athletes and their parents, according to the AOA.

“These evaluations are a great health benefit for the athletes and a great opportunity for optometrists and optometry students to come together and learn from one another,” said Steven Hitzeman, OD, co-chair of the event. “Vision is so critical to athletic performance, and the evaluations consistently identify visual problems in a number of athletes.”

CIBA Vision also sponsored a welcome reception and CE/orientation program for the participating volunteers on the first day of the evaluations. Volunteers received two hours of free CE regarding performing a sports vision evaluation, presented by the event co-chairs, Stephen Beckerman, OD, and Hitzeman.

Members of the AOA Sports Vision Section have provided sports vision evaluations to more than 3,800 athletes at the AAU Junior Olympics since 1994.