Neal Powless (born October 27, 1974) is an

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

player from the Eel Clan of the

Onondaga Nation The Onondaga people (Onontaerrhonon, Onondaga: , "People of the Hills") are one of the five original nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy in the Northeastern Woodlands. Their historical homelands are in and around present-day Ono ...

near

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

. He is the son of Chief Irving Powless Jr. and brother to Barry Powless and Bradley Powless. Powless earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Nazareth College and a master’s degree in counseling at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 2008. He is a Ph.D. candidate at Syracuse's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He has served as the University

ombuds An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

at Syracuse University since 2019.

Playing career

He was a three-time All-American in

field lacrosse Field lacrosse is a full contact sport, full contact outdoor sport played with two opposing teams of 10 players each. The sport originated among indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were i ...

at Nazareth College. Powless also played on the

Iroquois Nationals The Haudenosaunee Nationals Men's Lacrosse Team, formerly known as the Iroquois Nationals, represents the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in international field lacrosse competition. They are currently ranked third in the world by World Lacrosse after ...

at the

World Lacrosse Championships The World Lacrosse Men's Championship is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years. The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as ...

in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. He has also played for several professional

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...

teams, including the

Six Nations Chiefs The Six Nations Chiefs are Canadian Senior box lacrosse team from Six Nations of the Grand River. The Chiefs play in the Major Series Lacrosse of the Ontario Lacrosse Association. The Chiefs are seven-time Mann Cup National Senior Champions. Hi ...

of the

Ontario Lacrosse Association The Ontario Lacrosse Association (Ontario Lacrosse) is a not-for-profit sport organization and a member association of the Canadian Lacrosse Association, the national governing body for lacrosse in Canada. The Ontario Lacrosse Association is the ...

. He played on the

Rochester Knighthawks The Rochester Knighthawks (also known as the K-Hawks) are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Rochester, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at Blue Cross Arena. The Knighth ...

of the

Major Indoor Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

in 1997, when they won their first title.

Coaching career

Powless continues to be involved in the game through coaching box lacrosse teams as well as traveling across the United States doing field lacrosse camps. Powless has been coaching the Dutch Box Lacrosse program since their first

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in 2017. At th
2019
World Lacrosse Men's Indoor World Championship, the Dutch placed 8th (ranked 17th coming in).

Honors

Powless has been inducted into the Nazareth College Sports Hall of Fame (2009), the US Lacrosse, CNY Chapter Hall of Fame (2017), the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame (NAIAHF, 2022), and the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame (2025). He was a producer for lacrosse movie Crooked Arrows.

References

1974 births 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Native American people 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Native American people Buffalo Bandits players Eel Clan of the Iroquois Iroquois nations lacrosse players Lacrosse in Syracuse, New York Lacrosse players from New York (state) Living people Native American people from New York (state) Native American sportspeople Nazareth Golden Flyers men's lacrosse players Onondaga Nation people Sportspeople from Syracuse, New York Syracuse University alumni Syracuse University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) {{Canada-lacrosse-bio-stub