Oak Hills’ Weisker won’t let limitations hold him back

GREEN TWP. – He’s the voice of the Oak Hills High School baseball team.

He is Kyle Weisker.

Weisker isn’t your average 15-year-old sophomore. He likely knows more about sports than the next person and he’s likely been to more sporting events than the average fan.

The Oak Hills public address announcer, member of the marching band and varsity basketball team manager just views sports a little differently than you and I.

Weisker’s been totally blind since birth.

But it wasn’t something that was going to keep him from his dream of a career in sports.

“So many people are afraid to come out of their shell,” Weisker said. “Basically, I just feel like that’s not an option. You can’t do that. You have to at least put yourself out there and if you don’t succeed at something, at least you tried. I feel like my biggest thing is just trying things.”

Sports are something his father, Dave, instilled in him at an early age. Dave – an Elder High School graduate – now joins his son in the booth to lend a helping hand during Highlander home games.

“He’s never met a microphone he doesn’t like,” Dave said. “To me this is no different than me watching him play. It’s just awesome.”

Growing up Weisker was treated no differently than most kids. He made his fair share of trips to the Cincinnati Zoo, Kings Island and even The Beach Waterpark. It’s an upbringing that’s led to where he is today.

“We took him everywhere,” Dave said. “That’s what you do with your kids. Does he have his limitations? Absolutely, but anything we ever did with any of our kids we did with him. That’s kind of how we approached everything and I think it’s helped make him believe he can do anything he puts his mind to.”

Kyle’s first PA gig was at Rapid Run Middle School with the basketball team. After many conversations with Fitness Education teacher and assistant baseball coach Greg Leurck, many revolving around the game of baseball, they made plans to get Kyle involved with the team.

“He’s good at it, too,” Leurck said of Weisker’s PA skills. “You can hear his voice get into it; he gets into it. He’s prepared and he’s organized, too.”

As a PA announcer, his duties include announcing the lineups before the game, introducing the Oak Hills players as they take the field before the game, introducing each batter to the plate and giving the score at the end of each inning.

Before each home game Dave reads off the team’s rosters for Kyle to input into his BrailleNote, which then reads back to him, in Braille, the names of the players. Roughly 10 minutes before the game Kyle gets to work announcing the teams, and after the National Anthem, it’s time to play ball. And it’s time for the Weiskers to go to work.

“Baseball’s always been very important to me,” Kyle said before his Highlanders beat La Salle High School 7-3 May 6. “When I was little, me and my dad would go to a lot of Reds games. I would say it’s one of my biggest passions.”

Some days Kyle’s grandfather Dale visits the booth and you’ll find three generations of Weiskers working as one to help Kyle perfect his passion.

“It is awesome,” Kyle said. “It’s really been a great bonding experience for us. Being a teenager, it’s sometimes hard to find those things and it’s just so awesome to get to do this with him and have our quality time together.”

As far as the future goes, this isn’t something Kyle’s doing to pass the time. He has a vision for himself down the road.

“I would like a career in sports, so I’m planning on going to (Ohio University) to get a journalism degree. I would kind of like to do more in the analyzing type of thing.”