Keyand Foster: overcoming obstacles with basketball

SAN JOSE (Costa Rica) – Life comes at you with unexpected situations. A single day can define anyone's future. The story of Keyand Foster is the story about how to play basketball despite limitations.

In 2018, Keyand “Kian” Foster decided, with the support from his parents and former players Cander and Alex, to play basketball at 13 years of age and measuring 6’1”. He had never dribbled a ball but was welcomed by coach Pablo Martínez to the basketball team of Colegio Seminario in San Jose, Costa Rica. He started to play right at that instant. His strength near the rim, his physique and his athletic turned him into one of the young prospects watched by the Costa Rican national team coaches.

“One of my bosses told me that there was a kid from a school in the outskirts (Santa Maria), who was 13 and measured something like 6’2” and was athletic and very strong. I saw a picture of him playing the drum in his school's music band, I got the number and we immediately made an appointment in the basketball program, where we have a scholarship agreement with a private school. We got one for him to conclude his studies and play basketball at the same time. From the moment he arrived, he showed incredible discipline and impressive physical and athletic aptitudes,” said coach Pablo Martínez to FIBA.basketball.

Because he was such a tall player at such a shortage, Martínez had to work a lot on his coordination. In all competitions that involved physical skills, he was first because of his strength and, above all, because he was the tallest. In his category, he started to play in February and already in October he was one of the best of the team.

Keyand’s life was a normal one, like any kid that started to take his first steps in sports. Although he was starting at 13, it seemed as though he practiced basketball since he was little.

From that moment on, with great control of the ball and outstanding athletic ability, he played in his school's team while starting to give his first steps at Club San José, where Martínez coached as well. With all sights set on Keyand, in a short amount of time, he became one of the prospect players to be a part of the Costa Rican youth national teams.

“I'd never played basketball. I had excellent grades and we decided to try sports out. There are pictures that show that with just 4 or 5 months in basketball practice he could already dunk the ball,” said his mother, Cander Foster, to FIBA.basketball.

“I never saw my self playing basketball. My parents played this sport, but my father was keener to track, and my mother stopped practicing. I didn't even know how to dribble the ball, but I was raised to do things right and use the opportunities that life gives us. It wasn’t long before I fell in love with basketball,” shared Kian.

Two games remained to end the school championship in the same year of his debut when, in one of the recesses and playing with his classmates, he was accidentally hit by one of the children. The child’s nail hit Keyand’s eye and he immediately lost his eyesight. His parents took him to San Jose’s Medical Center, where doctors told them that a vessel in his left eye had become obstructed and that he wouldn’t be able to see again through that eye.

“It was a shock for everyone and, especially for him. He spent two weeks resting and the doctor told him to take medication to see if the light came back, but they later told us that there was nothing left to do – that he had lost his sight through that eye,” Cander explained.

“What doctors said was that in the medical world there wasn't anything to revert it and that it couldn't be operated on. That he would lose his eye.” It was a great issue in school, it was a commotion among teachers, students, and the directors, because he's a kid that everyone likes, aside from the physical aspects, because he's humble and hardworking and we could see the potential he had,” stated Martínez.

They finally gave him a two-week treatment and in the follow-up appointment at the doctor’s, they told him that he wouldn’t recover any vision through that eye, but that they would discharge him and allow him to play basketball again.

“I couldn't believe this was real. Without a doubt it was the worst moment of my life. I just remember my family's sadness. Seeing my parents suffer made me gain strength to get well and move forward. My coach got other doctors, but they had the same opinion. I was happy when one of them said that I could continue playing basketball,” said Keyand, who pointed out: “I wanted to play in the finals of the tournament organized by the Costa Rican Basketball Federation (FECOBA, for its Spanish acronym). My teammates would tell me, ‘Foster, what are we going to do without our center?’ So, I trained every day after school and with my work, day after day, I was able to play basketball again in a short period of time.”

The first time that Keyand cried after the accident was when he was called to play to the FECOBA tournament semi-finals, which were very close to the accident. The coach that fostered his debut confirmed that he would be able to play, and he returned to the court.

“What happened threw me out of my comfort zone and made me research the injury of people that just have one functional eye. I researched how I could help him. He bought a pair of glasses and started to play. Now he's a little slower to react or passes take him by surprise, but it's half a second and with time he’ll get used to it. He's made an extraordinary effort and you can't notice his limitation,” Martínez stated.

“It was an accident that could've happened at any other time in my life. It happened to me and it doesn’t matter the school I was in. This accident could've happened any other way. I don’t regret playing basketball. Now I'm a player with just one eye, and without my peripheral vision I've had to find my place in the court. I play with national team players that are from the San Jose team and I try to meet the expectations so that my disability isn't noticeable. Many coaches went up to my mom and asked her if I had been cured,” assured Foster, who added: “This accident is a clear example that you must live each day to the fullest. I want to be a school-level champion, get to the national games and to the national teams. I have a lot of basketball ahead of me. I’ll jump each hurdle that I have in front of me.”

Keyand's mother faced her son’s accident the best way she could: “Kian’s life is basketball. When the doctor said that he’d lost the eye for the rest of his life, he was calm, he didn’t say anything, and he didn't get concern. But when they told him that it could be difficult to play basketball, that’s when he started to cry. That's when I understood what this sport meant to him and my work would be to give him the psychological and emotional support for him to overcome this and go back soon to the courts. From that moment on there wasn't a day, morning or night that he didn't do everything he could to go back. After the accident, 15 days later, he was playing basketball, and it's been like that until today.”

With Club San Jose, Keyand is getting ready to the national games of the Central American country. One of his dreams is to be a part of the Costa Rica U-16 national team. He has already had trials as part of the team, and results have been positive. This is a story of bravery, of overcoming great obstacles, of how sports and basketball can achieve the impossible.

FIBA