Courtney Webeck lives with a serious vision impairment and, at age 19, first picked up a Tennis racket just over a year ago. 

She has risen quickly through the Blind and low-vision (BLV) tennis ranks and was recently crowned the Australian Women’s B2 and B3 Singles champion.

Webeck is now preparing to represent Australia as part of the country’s BLV Tennis team at the upcoming International Blind Sporting Federation (IBSA) World Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom. 

The dynamic young athlete will also represent Australia at the games as vice-captain of the country’s first women’s blind cricket team.

The IBSA World Games start on August 18, with an expected 1,700 competitors representing 70 nations across 11 blind sports.

“We are delighted to support Australia’s largest-ever contingent of 90 athletes and coaches participating in six sports,” Matt Clayton, chief executive of Blind Sports Australia, said.

“Particularly in such sports as blind cricket, where we have our first women’s blind cricket team competing, and a large number of players in the first blind and low-vision tennis team at an IBSA games.”

Webeck, who hails from Gloucester in mid-north coast New South Wales, said she was nervous but felt well prepared.

“Training has been full on … the more work we put in on the training court, the more it shows when it’s ‘go’ time,” she said.

‘Focus’ key in playing low-vision tennis

Webeck said she was encouraged to pursue both tennis and cricket last year.

“Then I met some amazing people who played cricket, and they told me I should come along and play cricket, and I was lucky enough to get a national title with the NSW team this year.” 

Blind tennis is split into classifications according to the players’ impairment.

Webeck has some limited vision, which she describes as “looking through a thick fog”, and says she can’t see the net or her opponent when she is standing at the back of a tennis court.

Blind and low-vision tennis is typically played on a smaller, brightly lit indoor court, and the tennis ball is made of foam and contains a bell, so it’s easier for visually impaired players to track the ball.

“Once it bounces, I know where to look and which direction to run … I get three bounces to take it on. 

“It’s definitely quite draining to stand on court to wait for the sound every time because there are normally eight courts of the same sound playing beside you.”

Lifting that bar higher

Webeck said she had received a lot of support in Gloucester and had been training with tennis coach Ellise Perks at nearby Old Bar.

In January this year, she took part in BLV tennis exhibition matches at the Australian Open.

On top of her sports commitments, she is also studying for a Bachelor of Agriculture through the University of New England.

“I sat down 12 months ago with my tennis coach and said, ‘I want to win a national title and represent my country.’ So to have those two ticked off, there’s one left, to hopefully be number one in the world,” she said.

Coach Perks said offering adaptive tennis coaching was “incredibly rewarding”.

“Courtney is incredible. She has a brilliant mindset. She is very focused,” she said.