Legally Blind Michigan Teen Takes Baseball Fight to Justice Department – The Good News
And his fight has "levelled the playing field" for athletes with visual impairments across the country.
Ryan Huizdos is a Little League player for Grosse Pointe/Harper Woods whom, for five years, had been playing with a yellow ball - he's legally blind because of albinism, and the yellow ball is the only thing he could see.
For years, nobody said anything, until his team made a district tournament in 2015. Little league found out about the ball and banned it. So, Ryan took his fight as high as he possibly could - to the Justice Department.
Nobody sued, which is nice to hear. But the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit sent a letter to the Justice Department, saying that it violated his rights as a disabled person to ban the ball.
The league enacted changes, but initially, they only applied to Ryan when he was at bat or pitching. Now, three years later, the changes have gone league-wide and allow kids with visual impairments to apply for a "yellow ball waiver."
Talk about a leader! Proud that he's a Michigander, too!