Iowa soccer grad transfer Courtney Powell dedicates season to her father

IOWA CITY — Courtney Powell drives home from a friend’s house in Iowa City when the tears start to pool in her eyes.

The phone rings and it’s her twin brother, Wes. He was at their father’s grave in La Porte City, crying too. It’s one of those days when the wave of grief over the death of their father hits both of them simultaneously, and they search for guidance through the Bible or each other, to keep the faith.

“A lot of times when I text her the Scripture and stuff, it's not really planned it's just whenever I feel like she needs it,” Wes said.

Six months ago, Courtney and Wes were living in Airbnbs with their mother, Kris, and sister, Kylie Crees, in Iowa City to stay close to their father, Scott, who was on a ventilator with COVID-19 at the University of Iowa Hospital. Now, Courtney lives here, in the town where her dad died, playing an extra season of soccer she never planned on playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“After last fall, I was done, ready to get into my career,” Powell said. “My dad had always said, ‘You should take advantage of the COVID year,’ because he loved watching me play. After he had passed, I was just thinking: maybe I'll see if I can come to Iowa.”

Beyond a rivalry

The last goal Powell scored was in an Iowa State uniform, where she tied the game against Kansas, 1-1 in November of 2020.

Despite growing up a Hawkeye fan, Powell chose Iowa State over Iowa for her undergraduate degree in agriculture, but now things have changed. Her fiance, former Iowa State wrestler Taylyn Entriken, is in physical therapy school at Iowa and if she was going to play one more season without her father by her side, she wanted to not only take advantage of finally being a Hawkeye, but also be with the person she can lean on.

The hardest part was breaking it to Iowa State head coach Matt Fannon this past spring. Of course, he would’ve liked his top scorer to use her COVID year to be a Cyclone. But it’s not that he, or the team, weren’t there for her months ago.

In fact, Fannon, while only knowing Powell for a year in his first season as head coach of the Cyclones, drove members of the team to Scott’s funeral to be with her instead of practice. There weren’t going to be burned bridges here when Powell came in the office and told him the news of her intent to transfer, because rivalries are more for fans and some things are just bigger than soccer.

“(Iowa head coach) David DiIanni is a very good friend of mine and a very paternal figure,” Fannon said. “So, I told him what Courtney has been dealing with and so we tried to really look at it from the human side rather than the soccer side. We know she's a good soccer player, but I wanted to make sure she was going to be in the best situation with people taking care of her.”

A standout career

Scott was still alive during Powell’s final season at Iowa State, watching from the attacking end of the field with the rest of the family. He always sat on that side, from the time he took her to tournaments as a little girl in club soccer, to when he was watching that same little girl become the state’s most electrifying forward for Union High School.

Powell holds the IGHSAU record for career (191) and single-season goals scored (81), despite not even playing high school soccer her junior year. That trend didn’t wane when she went to Iowa State, quickly becoming the team’s second-leading scorer and, eventually, leader in points (8) and goals (4) by her junior season in 2019.

"Soccer has always been a part of me. I love the feeling of just making those sprints behind the defenders and getting goals,“ Powell said. ”It really has been a way to escape from grieving, but at the same time, it is hard, my dad would always be in the stands.“

Soccer brings the family together. Courtney played because her older sister, Kylie, did, and the family never missed a game. They even went to every game during Courtney’s career at Iowa State and plan on doing the same this year. Wes makes the trip despite being in his final semester at UNI.

He said his favorite game still is a 2017 state tournament semifinal, where Courtney, as a senior, scored three goals in the final 11 minutes to lead Union to a 4-3 victory over North Scott en route to the Class 2A final.

“The first time seeing her in a Hawkeye uniform was good, too,” Wes said. “We’re all Iowa fans, and she scared us a little bit when she went to Iowa State, but I think we’re just excited to see her play one more year on the good side of the Cy-Hawk.”

Keeping the faith

Powell encapsulates the image of a small-town Iowa girl who loves her family and the quiet, yet hardworking life on the farm. She grew up raising and showing pigs at the Benton County Fair with her grandpa, Dwane Christian, and is strongly rooted in her Christian faith. Tattooed on her right arm is a Bible verse, Galatians 2:20-22, and over her heart is a fresh script, “Dad forever in my heart.”

Scott was the guiding light in the Powell family. Wes said that no matter what he or his siblings faced, Scott would help them find the answers through Scripture. Now, Wes carries on that tradition as the man of the house, sending Courtney Bible verses that might speak to her. He even started a Bible study following his father’s death in the back room of a Perkins in La Porte City.

But everyone in the family has struggled with faith, not understanding why Scott was taken from them. Kris, Courtney’s mom, was the first to get the virus, and recovered, and Scott for some reason, never did.

“I won't say I got disconnected from my faith, but my routine of reading Scripture kind of lessened,” Courtney said. “I find myself getting back into it. I listen to Christian music before games.”

It’s what helps with the conflicting feelings playing the sport she loves, but no longer gets to share with her father. The grief comes in waves, she said. Sometimes the tears come when she shoots the soccer ball, goes through a drill at practice or when she’s in the car alone.

“The last couple games I could tell, she saw all the moms come out with their husband and kids after the game and Scott's not there with me,” Kris said. “The first are always the toughest and that's what we're experiencing right now. He’s been gone six months, it’s still pretty raw.”

New beginnings

Scott faced death once before with kidney cancer while Courtney was in second grade, and he prayed that he would get to see his children grow up.

This past Thanksgiving, Entriken was able to ask Scott for permission to marry Courtney, and the two were engaged shortly after. It’s something she’s thankful for despite the fact he won’t walk her down the aisle.

After Scott’s death, Courtney’s sister, Kylie, gave birth to what would’ve been his first grandchild, Cassius Scott Crees, named after his favorite boxer, Cassius Clay (Muhammed Ali). The baby has brought joy during these past few months.

And now, she’s playing soccer at a university her family always cheered for. Even though he won’t be in the stands, sitting on the attacking side waiting to see her score, she’ll write his initials, “SMP,” on her calves, kiss her hands, tap them before pointing to the sky, playing the sport they shared together for one more year like he wanted.

“In a way, I feel like he got to see us grow up,” Courtney said. “Then God kind of took him.”

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