FC Edmonton goalkeeper Dylon Powley has special admiration for health-care workers who are currently on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
Admiration for health-care workers is personal for FC Edmonton goalkeeper Dylon Powley — Edmonton Sun
FC Edmonton goalkeeper Dylon Powley has special admiration for health-care workers who are currently on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Powley spent time at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton when he was young, and his girlfriend is currently a nurse.
“When I was four or five, I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome,” Powley said. “Basically what that does is affect your immune system and your central nervous system and basically my body started attacking itself.
“So I was in the Stollery for about a week and a half. I was put into a coma, suffered some temporary paralysis and before I left, I had to learn how to walk again. So I have a very strong appreciation for nurses, health-care workers and everybody right now.”
Powley, 23, is heading into his second season with FC Edmonton. The Canadian Premier League, however, is currently on hold as the country tries to ride out the coronavirus pandemic.
FC Edmonton was to begin its season this Saturday on Vancouver Island against Pacific FC. They were to host Cavalry FC of Calgary at Clarke Field the following week.
Yet, with the number of infected cases continuing to rise in Canada, sports has become secondary as the focus shifts to health.
Powley is currently in lockdown with the rest of his family trying to prepare the best he can for when the season does get underway, although he does have other things on his mind as well at the moment.
“My girlfriend, she is a nurse and luckily she hasn’t had any cases at her seniors home right now,” Powley said. “But I just have a strong appreciation for nurses and health-care aids and the list goes on and on.
“I keep seeing all this stuff on Twitter where it’s not the athletes or the millionaires and billionaires who are the heroes right now, it’s the frontline health-care workers who are putting their lives on the line every single day right now. I don’t know where we would be without them. Some of the things I hear that they’re doing and just exposing themselves to everything and anything right now, it’s a thankless job and I’m very grateful to them.”
Last season, Powley demonstrated his appreciation for those who treated him at the Stollery by making routine visits to the children’s hospital as a member of FC Edmonton. It was an initiative he suggested as a way to give back to the community.
“Last year we did a couple of trips,” Powley said. “We were asked if we had any ideas of where we can get out in the community and it was my idea to go visit the Stollery and we did that a couple of times and brought some kids out to the games and put some smiles on some faces.
“I know from first-hand experience when you’re there, any excuse to smile for five minutes is a good one.”
Following the lockdown, Powley and FC Edmonton will continue reaching out to the community and making trips to the Stollery.
When the season will eventually kickoff is still up in the air as the CPL is pondering options and looking at different scheduling scenarios once the outbreak has subsided.
FC Edmonton was going into the year with plenty of optimism this season having been into their second week of training camp before it was all shut down.
“We signed some really, really good players this year,” Powley said. “All of us came in really excited and eager to get back to work and in the first week and a half that we had training camp, it was looking really, really good. There was just a different feeling this year in the locker room from last year.”
Individually, Powley is looking to have a strong season sharing the goalkeeping duties with fellow local product Connor James.
Powley had a strong second half last season playing six league games and both Canadian Championship games for FC Edmonton.
“I don’t want to say it was a disappointing year for me last year, because I did get into some games, even though I expected more from myself,” Powley said. “I definitely gained a lot of confidence from the games that I played, but I’ve actually gotten more confidence coming into the preseason this year fitter than I was last year.
“That’s what’s given the most confidence is knowing that I’ve taken part of my game to another level, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to showcase some of that this year.”
Despite competing against each other for playing time, Powley and James have an excellent relationship and the two have taken advantage of working with former Canadian international goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld, who was brought on as the goalkeeping coach last season.
“I’ve played on a lot of teams in my life and I think the relationship that Connor, myself and Lars have is probably the healthiest relationship I’ve been in, in terms of soccer,” Powley said. “Last year we were pushing each other day in and day out. We have a good understanding that we’re battling each other, but we have a very professional understanding that it’s the coach’s decision who plays and no matter what we’re going to be there for each other and supporting each other.”
The view from left field 