by Gianna Griffith

Though I was born with congenital glaucoma, my parents let me try pretty much any sport or activity I wanted.  I first learned to skate in 2014 when I was 7 along with my younger brother.  My local youth hockey association had advertised a learn to skate program and I immediately loved it.  After that season, I moved onto cross ice hockey, squirt hockey, girls hockey and played with my High School Girls hockey team during summer hockey and served as their team manager throughout my high school years.  As I got older though, the speed of the game made it difficult for me to compete at the level I wanted to.  I had heard about Blind Hockey about a year or so prior and I attended my first Blind Hockey event in St Louis in October 2021.  It was at that point, I realized that not only could I continue to play hockey competitively it also introduced me to a community that I never knew existed.  For those that don’t know Blind Hockey is just like typical hockey with a few adaptations.  The puck is hollow, made of metal, is about 6 inches across, 2 inches high and filled with ball bearings.  The net is shorter and wider than a typical hockey net and a pass needs to be made once a player enters the offensive zone before taking a shot.  Teams are made up with players of all ages and genders with 10% vision or less.

I’ve been fortunate to go to Blind Hockey events all over like Chicago, Minnesota, New Jersey, Toronto and Montreal, but I’m really looking forward to the 2025 USA Hockey Blind Hockey Classic this November at Boston Sports Institute in Wellesley, MA. 

In October 2024, I became one of the newest members of the US National Blind Hockey Team.  My teammates are from all over the country.  Places like Maine, Dallas, Chicago, Idaho, Colorado, Washington and California to name a few.  We competed against Team Canada in April 2025 in Montreal.  Though the results weren’t what we were hoping for, I’m excited to play against them again next April. 

During the later spring and summer, I put my skates down for a few months as I am a member of the Boston Strong Beep Baseball Team.  I was introduced to Boston Strong and Beep Baseball through a family friend from North Reading and learning a new sport has been an absolute blast.  Beep Baseball allows me to continue being competitive and to get to know people from another community that are again, just like me!