ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — As a coach, Bernie Manning says it’s the most difficult task he’s ever undertaken.
It was a Tuesday night in 2019, around 8 o’clock, and Manning gathered his Feildians under-16 squad into one of the Techniplex dressing rooms for a post-practice meeting.
The coach had some grave news that had to be shared.
Parents of the kids were invited, too, and Manning told all that one of the players, Dylan Owens, was being prepared for a very serious surgery the next morning.
”I remember it very well,” said the Double Blues’ U16 coach. “It’s not something you forget.
“Hardest thing I’ve ever done, trying to talk to the boys and trying to tell them Dylan was going in for an operation. That we don’t know where it’s going, that there’s no definite positive outcome.
“We didn’t tell the kids, but we were under the assumption that he was on his last breath.”
Last Feb. 29, the 16-year-old Owens was walking up the Main Road with friends in his native Goulds when he was struck by a vehicle outfitted with a snowplow.
The injuries were almost catastrophic. A broken collarbone and, worse, a fractured skull.
First responders weren’t hopeful. He was in hospital for almost two months. In fact, only for COVID-19, his hospital stay probably would have been longer.
Today, Manning sees a miracle in young Owens who, besides undergoing a brilliant recovery, is even back on the soccer pitch again, playing a few minutes for the Feildians U16s in the provincial league this summer.
When he was ready, confident and displaying improved balance, Owens resumed training under the watchful eye of the Feildians’ coaches.
“We kept him out of contact, of course,” Manning said, “keeping him to the technical stuff like passing and ball control.
“He just kept getting better and better.”
“Funny how things work out sometimes, but the accident left him forgetting the memory of wanting to quit soccer. Now he’s back to a point where he loves the game again.” — Bernie Manning
As an added piece of protection, Owens dons a rugby scrum cap for games and practices.
“I won’t say he’s 100 per cent,” Manning said. “But it’s to a point where I have no fear getting him in there.
“His decision-making might not be there yet, but it’s getting better by the minute. He just got his driver’s permit, he’s able to express himself better.”
A couple of weeks ago, Owens even took to the pitch again, for five or 10 minutes in a game against another Feildians team.
The two coaches met prior to the opening kickoff. He was all for a fair game, but Manning, “didn’t want to see anyone go through the back of Dylan.”
“I was so happy to get out there again,” said the Grade 11 St. Kevin’s High student who, when he’s not on the soccer pitch, can usually be found hunting or fishing, reeling in two and three-pound mud trout.
“Everything felt so good, even getting ready for the game, and everything that goes with that … being around the guys.”
Actually, Owens contemplated stepping away from the game following nationals last year.
Few probably would have guessed he would be back in the turf, certainly this season, and especially after the accident. Even Owens admits he figured a return was out of the question.
That he’s back is a credit to his determination and resolve.
“Funny how things work out sometimes,” Manning said, “but the accident left him forgetting the memory of wanting to quit soccer. Now he’s back to a point where he loves the game again.”
NASH THE GREATEST CANADIAN
This may be a hard sell in the Great White North, but Steve Nash, in this humble opinion, deserves credit as the greatest athlete Canada has ever produced.
Yes, better than a couple of chaps named Orr and Gretzky.
Basketball is soaring to greater heights in Canada these days (how about Jamal Murray’s 50 points for the Denver Nuggets last weekend and, of course, the Toronto Raptors championship last season) but it wasn’t always that way.
Nash, the new Brooklyn Nets coach, came to prominence in a time when almost no Canadians were in the NBA. He went on to win back-to-back MVP awards, was a seven-time All-NBA all-star and is third all-time on the career assists list.
Not bad for a skinny 6-2 kid from British Columbia, who went to tiny Santa Clara University.
This, in a sport that may be the hardest from which to earn a living given the limited number of jobs (NBA clubs carry 13 to 15 players on the roster, versus the 23 in the NHL).
And basketball is getting to be far more of a global game than hockey, making the competition for NBA jobs that much more intense.
Twitter: @telyrobinshort
