Some of you may know what I do for a living. I am an Optometrist (or Optician to the majority of the general public). I work in general practice in Glasgow. I would imagine that less of you know that I have a particular interest in Sports Vision. This is a specialist area, which deals with vision assessment of people participating in sport.
I run a specialist clinic where interested parties can have their vision assessed in the most comprehensive way. As well as the normal tests you would expect to be carried out when you have your eyes tested, we also assess visual functions particularly important for sport. Measurements include dynamic vision (vision of a moving target), reaction speed, hand eye coordination and peripheral awareness. To do this we use the latest in up to the minute Sports Vision technology. We also offer training packages, where athletes can come repeatedly to the clinic and train their eye muscles and coordination. Done repetitively this can lead to performance improvement, as with other areas of sports training.
Our particular set up is pretty unique in the UK. There are other clinics in England, based at the Olympic training centre at Bisham Abbey and Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United. However, we are unusual in that we combine our Optical services and our sports coaching all under one roof. The line between what is Optometry and what is sports coaching is definitely becoming more blurred.
We have had a very busy and productive year in 2008 and were fortunate enough to be nominated for the recent Optician Awards. These are an annual event held by our industry publication "Optician Magazine". They are designed to show recognition for outstanding achievement within our profession. This year the awards were held at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham and we were shortlisted in the "Sports Vision Practice of the Year" category.
So it was that our practice manager and I flew down to Birmingham last Saturday morning. We spent some time at the Optrafair trade show, then got ourselves ready for the gala dinner in the evening. It began with a champagne reception, with a guest list reading like a who's who of UK Optometry. There were lots of faces that I only recognised from magazines. There were also some friendly faces that I hadn't seen for some time. We also bumped into Marilyn Munroe and were photographed by the paparazzi on the way in...
The formal part of the evening consisted of a dinner, attended by 650 guests. There was also a live video link to another 200 or so upstairs in the bar area. We had a very pleasant meal in the company of our hosts, Rupp & Hubrach, who were sponsoring our category. Then it was time for the awards, which were done is a very "Oscars" style. Each section had a shortlist of five, from which the winner would be announced. No one knew the results prior to the event except the judges.
Our award came about half way through the thirteen on offer and I admit to more than a few butterflies. Fortunately, and to my very great joy, we were announced the winners! We had to go on to the stage and accept the award (thankfully no speeches) and have our picture taken.
The rest of the evening passed in a bit of a blur to be honest. I hardly noticed who won the awards that came after ours. I was too busy grinning. As a practice, we are all very proud of this award and feel it is great recognition of what we are trying to achieve.
Take care and keep your eye on the ball,
Col.
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