Sports reporter now broadcasting the faith
September 25, 2024
by Ryan Johnson
Once a staple on Des Moines broadcast TV, this former sports journalist now spends his days supporting the Knights of Columbus and veterans.
Meet Tony Powers Polich
If you were around Des Moines in the 1970s and 1980s, you may remember seeing Powers reporting on the latest Iowa or Iowa State football or basketball game.
The Iowa native spent much of his professional career behind the broadcast desk or in a stadium covering sports. He even attended the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where fellow journalists called upon him to share his knowledge of Iowans competing in the Olympics that year.
It was after Powers decided to take a break from broadcasting that he found his two passions: supporting the Catholic Church through the Knights of Columbus and helping veterans.
It was at his brother’s prompting that he joined the Knights of Columbus. His late brother, Father James Polich, a priest for the Diocese of Des Moines, encouraged Powers to join the Catholic fraternal organization.
“He helped strengthen my faith by watching him celebrate Mass despite his illness,” Powers said.
He joined the Knights of Columbus and is currently a member of Council 12422 at St. Francis of Assisi in West Des Moines. He is also part of the fourth degree assembly.
“As a fourth degree Knight of Columbus, we always strive to serve our fellow man,” he said. “We always help others, whether it be a homeless person or someone who needs assistance. I pray every day and thank God for living in this wonderful state, country and world.”
Surviving Vietnam
Before a successful career in broadcasting, Powers served in the U.S. military and was stationed in Vietnam. He was drafted in 1968, left central Iowa and trained at the United States Army’s Noncommissioned Officer Candidate Course (NCO) school in Fort Benning, Georgia. The training there prepared him for Vietnam and “saved his life.”
“My combat experience in Vietnam taught me one thing: ‘I wanted to live and not die over there.’ There was a chaplain in Vietnam who blessed me with the Sign of the Cross every time we were ready to go on patrol. ‘Just in case you don’t come back, Tony,’ he’d always say.”
While serving in Vietnam, Powers was wounded and received two Purple Hearts. His second injury took him out of action, and he returned to the United States, where he recovered at the VA Hospital in Denver, Colorado.
His experience serving in the military led to a second career after broadcasting. Powers worked with veterans and helped them find meaningful employment opportunities.
Writing Experience
An interest in writing spurred Powers to author letters to the editor of The Des Moines Register. That led to longer writing projects, including a mystery novel titled “Murder on the Opinion Page.”
Powers’s faith called him to write a novel titled “Famous People You Might Meet in Eternity.” It’s about a former sportscaster who goes in for minor knee surgery and ends up in eternity.
“It’s a Christian novel with the theme that all my characters in the novel have the same thing,” he said. “That they could live their lives all over again. I plan to write a sequel soon.”
While Powers’s military service and professional career took him around the world and into many sporting arenas, his Catholic faith kept him grounded.
He attributes his strong faith to his mother, who helped raise him on the family farm after his father passed away.