By Bill Potrecz: BP Sports Niagara- April 15, 2021
Dylan Dekoe’s leap of faith to play for the Gilmour Academy Lancers has paid off.
The 18-year-old Welland native spent the last two seasons with the prep school in Ohio where he honed his game, while also finishing up his high school studies.
“Originally I had hopes of playing in the OHL or getting drafted but that didn’t really work out,” the 6-foot, 190-pound centre said. “I thought about my options and starting thinking more toward the NCAA route.”
Dekoe was introduced to the prep school route by a coach.
“I thought I would give a try and went and toured a couple of schools. The biggest thing is the academic side to it as well,” he said.
Dekoe was immediately impressed with Gilmour, which features two rinks and a workout facility on campus, and also has a reputation as a top-notch academic institute.
“For NCAA proposes, obviously they want kids with really good academics,” said Dekoe, who began his high school education at Notre Dame. “There was no going wrong with it. It was the right step for me at the time and a really good decision.
“I didn’t want to regret not going.”
Dekoe collected 14 goals and 45 points in his first season with the Lancers, then followed it up with 21 goals in 41 games this year.
“I feel all the areas of my game have progressed a lot,” said Dekoe, who also played a year of junior B lacrosse for the Welland Generals in 2019. “Being able to be on the ice every single day, there are a lot of benefits. Having the ability to try new things and get outside of my comfort level a lot was really big and helped my game. It opened up my vision because I could relax and try things and be more confident.”
The Lancers compiled a 17-23-4 record this season.
As you have likely heard by now, this afternoon, Premier Doug Ford, Education Minister Stephen Lecce, and Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams announced that schools would not reopen on Monday, April 19, following the spring break. This is an open-ended school closure, with the reopening date directly tied to the community's transmission rates.
We understand that this information conflicts with messaging sent out by the Minister of Education over the weekend. However, in response to the escalating number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario, which have now grown to levels beyond what was seen in January during the month-long school closure and have exceeded the projections for a worst-case scenario for the third wave, we believe that this is a safe, responsible decision for everyone.
We understand that this is challenging for families and are grateful that the announcement came early in the week to allow parents time to plan for the pivot to virtual for what we hope is the last time this year.
Our Senior Staff and the Board's COVID leads will meet early Tuesday to finalize plans for the coming weeks of learning at home. As you already know, schools will be open for students with complex special education needs who do not learn well online. We also understand that there are families that will require technology for your child(ren) to learn successfully from home. We will provide more information to these families, and all families, about how the return to school will look on April 19 in the coming days.
In the meantime, we hope that you and your family enjoy the change of the break's pace and are safe and well.
Are you a Grade 12 student graduating in June from one of NCDSBs 8 Secondary Schools? Want to earn some cash to finance your post-secondary education? Check out Niagara Catholic’s Student Senate Scholarship! The application deadline is May 3/2021!
A short while ago, Premier Doug Ford announced that Ontario will enter a modified version of the grey/lockdown zone for 28 days, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, April 3.
There had been much discussion about the potential for a return to virtual learning, but the Premier has advised us this will not happen after Easter or the upcoming spring break, which will continue as planned.
However, if there is one thing we have learned in this past year it’s to be prepared for any possible changes, including a return to virtual learning after the April break if case counts do not significantly decline during the lockdown. We ask you to please be prepared for any eventuality, but hope our schools will remain open for in-person learning.
Minister Lecce has indicated he will send a letter home to families after Easter, in advance of the spring break, and we will share that letter with you when we receive it. For now, we are happy to communicate that our schools will be open to students learning in-person on Tuesday, and through the rest of the week.
Please do all you can this Easter weekend to relax and safely enjoy the break. Please follow the lockdown guidelines so that this one, hopefully, is the last one.
As you may have heard by now, Premier Doug Ford is scheduled to make an announcement about enhanced safety measures in Ontario in an effort to reverse the trend of rising case counts of COVID-19 in the province tomorrow, Thursday, April 1. While we don’t know the specifics, we do know that Niagara has seen a disturbing trend in rising cases of COVID-19, and we believe it is important to be prepared for the possibility of returning to virtual learning after the long weekend.
With that in mind, we ask parents to please remind their children to please bring home all personal items and learning materials they may need for remote learning when they leave school for the Easter weekend.
As we have in the past, Niagara Catholic will continue to provide assistance with technology to families in need, if we are directed to pivot to online learning.
We will ensure all families are aware of the information from Premier Ford’s announcement through our School Messenger, Board website and social media platforms as soon as it becomes available.
This year has presented many challenges, and as I mentioned in my letter prior to the start of Holy Week, I am so proud of all you and your children have done to make the best of a very difficult situation. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.
We all have an important role to play in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in Niagara, and I encourage to you please do your part by following the local and provincial guidelines this weekend so that our schools and sites continue to be safe, healthy places for our students and staff when we return.
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The 18-year-old Welland native spent the last two seasons with the prep school in Ohio where he honed his game, while also finishing up his high school studies.
