![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/02-Kymani-goalball-595x397.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBlind Oshkosh West sprinter Kymani Stephen, left, powers down the track with UW-Oshkosh football player Austin Eklund guiding him during a 100-meter race in April. Kathy Bechard Photography\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside the echoing walls of a racquetball court in UW-Oshkosh\u2019s Albee Hall, a rubber ball, filled with three metal bells, slams repeatedly against the far wall. The sharp rattle reverberates across the floor as Kymani Stephen, a 17-year-old Oshkosh West High School senior who is blind, tilts his head and listens, pinpointing the exact moment the ball comes within reach before launching it again with precision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Standing against the left wall in the court, Austin Eklund, a UW-Oshkosh junior majoring in special education and defensive back on the Titan football team, watches with quiet awe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Blind Oshkosh West senior Kymani Stephen practices throwing drills for goalball inside a UWO racquetball court. Stephen will compete later this week at the National High School Goalball Championships in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean\u2026 he\u2019s just incredible,\u201d said Eklund, who has known Stephen since spring 2024 when he became the younger athlete\u2019s running guide. Stephen runs 100m and 200m races for Oshkosh West High.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Watching Stephen train for the National High School Goalball Championships Dec. 4-6 in Austin, Texas, is different for Eklund. As Stephen\u2019s track guide runner, he\u2019s used to being tethered to him, matching stride for stride, guiding him around curves, helping him navigate high-speed races. <\/p>\n
But here, on the racquetball court, Eklund isn\u2019t guiding. He\u2019s witnessing a different kind of athletic skill at work.<\/p>\n
Goalball, which originated in 1946 as a way to keep blinded WWII veterans physically active, is considered the premier team sport for blind athletes, according to Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired\u2014host site for the national competition. In goalball, the ball contains bells that sound when in motion and thrown at a goal at the opposing team\u2019s end of the court.<\/p>\n
Stephen wasn\u2019t born blind. A childhood accident triggered the loss of his vision, which deteriorated between ages 7 and 9 until he was considered blind by sixth grade. Multiple surgeries followed, along with glaucoma in both eyes. Today, he describes his vision as a shifting field of gray static, like what you\u2019d see on an analog TV when it\u2019s not receiving a broadcast signal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How Their Paths Crossed\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oshkosh West\u2019s coaching staff knew Stephen needed a guide runner they could count on\u2014someone who would show up every day, train consistently, and stay with him for more than a few weeks. He had already worked with two or three well-meaning student runners, but none had been able to commit long-term. ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/05-Extra-Kymani-Austin-Walking-Campus.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Kymani Stephen, left, walks across the UW-Oshkosh campus with guide runner Austin Eklund, a defensive back with the UWO football team. The pair train together throughout the track season, competing in the 100- and 200-meter races.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Joey Ray\u2014Eklund\u2019s former defensive coordinator from Sussex High School, now head football coach at West\u2014stepped in. Ray recognized that the team needed reliability. And he knew Eklund.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me he had something different for me, an opportunity out of the ordinary,\u201d Eklund said. \u201cThey had a blind student-athlete who needed a guide runner.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/06-Extra-Kymani-Austin-Running.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Stephen and Eklund using a longer tether at an April 2025 race. Kathy Bechard Photography<\/p>\n
Eklund said yes, even though he wasn\u2019t a runner. In high school, he competed mainly in long jump and only occasionally raced the 100-meter dash. Becoming a guide runner meant transforming himself into an athlete who could run at 75% or more every day, just to stay even with Stephen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it meant showing up. Every. Single. Day. For two track seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy days during spring were wake up, football practice, class, then West High School to run with Kymani,\u201d Eklund said. \u201cEvery practice he was at, I was at. Every meet he was in, I was in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Running as One\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their first practice together was messy. The tether was bulky, the rhythm off, the communication still forming. But they kept going.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At meets, Eklund noticed the way people sized Stephen up, the quiet judgmental assumption that a blind sprinter was there for a feel-good moment, not to compete.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody just assumes he\u2019s gonna show up and get a participation trophy,\u201d Eklund said. \u201cIt\u2019s the furthest thing from the truth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their first race silenced the doubters. In a JV 100-meter heat, they exploded off the line and left the entire field behind and \u201cdusted everyone,\u201d as Eklund put it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was yelling, \u2018You\u2019re freaking amazing!\u2019 because I couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd he just smiled. He\u2019s Mr. Cool. That\u2019s what he does.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/07-Extra-Kymani-cane.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Kymani Stephen measures steps in the UWO racquetball court before his goalball practice.<\/p>\n
Before Eklund began guiding him, Stephen estimates he ran the 100-meter dash in about 13.9 seconds. With Eklund at his side, he dropped that time to around 12.5 seconds by the end of last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They laugh now about early missteps, like the time Stephen accelerated so quickly in a 200-meter race that the pair got out of sync and both face-planted across the track. \u201cAs soon as I fell, he fell,\u201d Stephen said. \u201cWe just went flipping. Somehow it was only a couple scrapes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What They Teach Each Other\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stephen says that trust is the foundation of everything they do.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/04-Kymani-Trina.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Kymani Stephen, a blind high school student-athlete, walks across the UW-Oshkosh campus with Trina Woldt, director of Leadership Oshkosh. Woldt helped coordinate practice space for Stephen\u2019s goalball training.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re running full speed, so essentially I\u2019m putting my life in his hands,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s another way to measure the amount of trust in a person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hearing that level of trust from Stephen was deeply moving for Eklund.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat hasn\u2019t he taught me?\u201d Eklund said, choking up a bit. \u201cHe\u2019s taught me how to be a better person, a better future teacher. He breathes life into the people around him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stephen\u2019s goalball training only deepened that admiration.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish more people would really stop and look at how talented these athletes are,\u201d Eklund said. \u201cKymani gets doubted before every race. If people paid attention, they\u2019d see incredible athletes who compete at the highest level.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stephen now competes on a youth team supported by the Michigan Blind Athletics Association, the organization that first discovered him at a sports camp in Kalamazoo. He played alongside the Michigan Omega team in Chicago to gain experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are no goalball programs in the Fox Valley, so he typically trains alone. That\u2019s why having practice time in Albee Hall at UWO has meant so much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Albee, he focuses mostly on offense, experimenting with different throwing techniques from camps and tournaments. Director of Leadership Oshkosh Trina Woldt, who taught him in Youth Leadership Oshkosh, has even stepped onto the court to throw balls at him so he can work on blocking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a boost of encouragement,\u201d Stephen said. \u201cA lot of athletes drop goalball because they can\u2019t find places to practice. Now I\u2019m excited I have this space, and I\u2019m going to use it to the fullest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat stands out isn\u2019t his blindness, it\u2019s his character,\u201d said Woldt, who helped facilitate the use of the racquetball court for Stephen. \u201cHe chooses resilience every day. He pushes himself in ways most people never will.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Woldt sees something special in the partnership between Eklund and Stephen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey model what inclusion looks like at its best,\u201d she said. \u201cTwo people learning from each other, matching pace, pushing past boundaries.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Considering a Future in Special Education\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stephen, who grew up in Chicago, has been accepted to UW-Oshkosh and is strongly considering majoring in special education. His mom works as a physical therapist assistant in nursing homes, and his dad is a construction worker; both have supported his academic and athletic ambitions as his vision changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/03-Kymani-Austin-Goalball.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
During a goalball training session in a UW-Oshkosh racquetball court, Kymani Stephen works on offensive throws as UW-Oshkosh student-athlete Austin Eklund observes his technique.<\/p>\n
He said the idea of special education first surfaced in middle school, inspired by the adults who supported him\u2014his paraprofessional, vision teacher, and orientation and mobility instructor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did a lot to influence my life, especially with sports,\u201d Stephen said. \u201cThey supported my aspirations both academically and outside of school. I really feel like I want to give back and invest my time into students the way they invested in me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
UW-Oshkosh is at the top of his list, even if he hasn\u2019t officially committed yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve met a few people here and it\u2019s definitely growing on me,\u201d Stephen said. \u201cI just want to make sure that wherever I go, I can give my all and keep doing the things I love.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their partnership has shaped both athletes, but Eklund says Stephen changed him in lasting ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe solidified that I\u2019m on the right path with my special education major,\u201d Eklund said. \u201cWorking with him made me realize this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0Learn more:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Study special and early childhood education at UWO<\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blind Oshkosh West sprinter Kymani Stephen, left, powers down the track with UW-Oshkosh football player Austin Eklund guiding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-321232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
School of Education and Human Services<\/a><\/p>\n