NEW ORLEANS--About 30 optometrists and optometry students representing the American Optometric Association sports vision section performed free vision evaluations for more than 250 athletes competing in the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic games here recently.

Since 1994, the AOA sports vision section has provided the vision evaluations for more than 3,600 Junior Olympic athletes. The evaluation program is sponsored by CIBA Vision, the eyecare unit of Novartis (NYSE: NVS), in conjunction with Indiana University School of Optometry and Illinois College of Optometry. The goal of the evaluations is to ensure that problems in the visual system do not limit athletic performance and to increase the visual performance of the individual athlete.

“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 participating optometrist Steven Hitzeman, OD, co-chair of the event.