Delaware woman heads to first Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup for the Blind
By Stephanie Stahl
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DELAWARE (KYW) — A Delaware woman is making history as part of the blind U.S. team competing in the first-ever Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup for the Blind.
Shannon Britt, who’s legally blind, is practicing cricket, and instead of seeing the ball, she’s listening.
Britt, who lives in Smyrna, is getting ready to compete in the first-ever Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup.
“I didn’t think I was going to make the team,” Britt said. “I was just going to try something new, and I wound up being decent at it.”
Britt was born with a rare eye cancer. A series of operations and interventions left her with very limited vision.
“Everything’s really blurry and just foggy,” Britt said.
But that doesn’t stop Britt. She’s spent a lifetime learning to adapt.
Britt’s mother, Donna Britt, helps with practice and is thrilled her daughter will be competing internationally.
“We never treated her any different when she was young,” Donna Britt said, “and she grew up being just like everybody else. She’s done a lot of amazing things in her life, and this is just the cherry on top.”
Shannon Britt says that because her team is for people who are totally blind and she can see a little, she has to wear special shades.
“On the team, I’m what’s known as like an all-arounder,” she said. “I can bowl. I can bat. I can field. Because they want to keep it fair, all B1s have to wear B1 shades, which will totally black out my vision.”
Britt and her U.S. teammates will compete against five countries in the World Cup that’s happening in India and Sri Lanka. She leaves Friday for India. The first match happens next week.
“I’m 44 years old,” she said, “and never thought I would be an international sports person.”
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