Syracuse University News
By Kelly Homan Rodoski
ou could say that lacrosse is in Neal Powless’s blood.
Powless G’08, the University ombuds, is a member of the Onondaga Nation Eel Clan. He is the son, grandson and brother of legendary lacrosse players. Powless picked up a lacrosse stick for the first time at age 2. He played in his first game at age 4; his older brothers had to improvise with his uniform and protective gear as what they had been given was too big.
Powless played all throughout his childhood, high school and his undergraduate years at Nazareth College in Rochester. He was a three-time All American and played professionally for several years; he was a member of the Rochester Knighthawks of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League when the team won its first title in 1997. Today, he is the coach of the Netherlands National Box Lacrosse Team and, at age 50, still plays the game for Oneida in the North American Box Lacrosse League.
To honor his dedication and many contributions to the game of lacrosse, Powless was inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, located at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, on May 2. He was one of four athletes inducted this year, and one of five from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy who have been inducted since the Hall of Fame’s inception.
owless is no stranger to Hall of Fame inductions. He has been inducted into several, including the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame, the USLacrosse Hall of Fame (Upstate Chapter and Greater Rochester Chapter) and Nazareth College Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Rochester Red Wings Walk of Fame. This feels different, though, he says. Many of the inductees are from major sports leagues, such as the National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association and National Football League.
“You love your sport, and when that love and commitment is acknowledged it is amazing,” Powless says. “It is really humbling to be in a space like that First Americans Museum, which is the premier Indigenous museum in the country.”