The 20-year-old UNE student (Bachelor of Exercise Physiology) is hoping to again represent her country in the Australian blind women’s cricket team, after a successful debut last year. And as well as her supportive parents, Courtney has a good mate to thank for her fine form with the bat.
Ted is fast in the outfield and quick to return the ball during regular practice on the Webeck family’s beef property near Gloucester, on the Mid North Coast of NSW.
“The other two dogs, labradors Coco and Milo, don’t do too much fetching; we just sit them in the slips and hope they block something. But border collie Ted is a great training partner,” said Courtney. “Dad only has to bowl with him around.”
In mid-January Courtney will attend the national vision-impaired cricket championships and selection trials in Brisbane, to discover if she’s again been chosen to wear the baggy green to compete in a T20 series against Pakistan and contest world championships in India later in 2025. The women’s team – which comprises seven partially sighted and four totally blind players – is looking to emulate its success in the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games in Birmingham, where it finished second only to India, with Courtney at the helm.
After a month off, the talented sportswoman is back in serious cricket training, just days after completing another 2024 sporting season – for tennis. At the recent state titles in Adelaide, Courtney won the women’s singles and open doubles events.
Despite having less than 5% vision in both eyes – “my vision is like looking through a thick fog” – Courtney grew up playing every able-bodied sport she possibly could, including basketball, athletics and netball. It was a 2021 Paralympic talent search that opened the possibility of tennis, and then cricket.
Within eight months, Courtney was playing cricket for Australia and had established herself as the number one nationally in both singles and doubles blind and low vision tennis. She is now world number one in both disciplines.
“Tennis really clicked first and then I thought I would give cricket a go,” said Courtney, a member of UNE’s Elite Athlete Program. “I was just fortunate enough to be selected to play both sports at a high level. To play two sports for your country at the same world championships was pretty cool.”
2024 has been a successful one for Courtney. In addition to top performances on the court and pitch, she was named 2024 Blind Australian of the Year, an ambassador for NSW/ACT Guide Dogs and the recipient of a 2025 Sport Australia Hall of Fame scholarship that will see her mentored by three-time Paralympic gold medallist and four-time world champion wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley AO.
And although she hopes to have a long sporting career ahead of her, Courtney’s place in UNE’s Elite Athlete Program makes study – and a future career in exercise physiology – feasible.
“It takes into account my sporting commitments, giving me flexibility to take exams and complete assessments around my schedule,” Courtney said. “It’s very handy, especially when juggling competition and touring in two sports. Learning the bio-chemical functions of the athlete’s body has also helped me as an athlete during the past 12 months.”
Completing a very visual course – think body structure and function, individual bones and muscles – has its challenges, but Courtney appreciates her technological aids and those who have scribed for her during her intensive schools. She has also become an advocate for inclusion. “Acceptance from a young age is so important, especially for people living in rural and regional areas, who may not have the same opportunities as those living in the cities.
“I grew up with an appreciation that anything was possible. My parents told me there was no such thing as can’t. It’s the one thing I live by. Sport has given me a lot of freedom and so many opportunities to do great things that I would never have thought possible; it has shown me that we are all equal when we go out there and play.”
And Courtney’s personal mantra is just as inspiring as she is: ‘smile big, work hard and stay humble’.
