Neal Powless
Neal Powless MS, Ha’whenawdi:es, traditional member of the Onondaga Nation Eel Clan, grew up playing within the Onondaga Minor Athletics Association in both box and field lacrosse. His field career began at Lafayette High School and extended through Nazareth College to internationally with the Haudenosaunee Nationals. Neal also enjoyed 7 seasons of professional box lacrosse to go along with playing in both Sr A and Sr B for Canadian National Championships.
He is also the current Head Coach for the Netherlands National Box lacrosse team and previously coached their national field team as well. Neal’s lacrosse influence has also extended beyond the playing field as a movie and documentary producer and through his public speaking around the world about Indigenous culture. He has also been inducted into 6 different sports Hall of Fames and has a block in the Sports Walk of Fame in Rochester, NY.
HIGH SCHOOL CAREER
Neal started every game of his 3-year High School career earning All-League honors each year. In his Senior year, he led the league with 49 goals and 49 assists and had almost 200 career points for the Lancers. He was also a team Captain and finished the season as the Class B, Section III runner up.
COLLEGIATE CAREER
A 3 time All-American, Neal still sits in the top 10 in career points, career goals, single season points in program history and his record as a starter is an impressive 41-3. In 1995 he set a single season goals record with 57 in 15 games that stood for 18 years. He is still second all-time for single season goals. His final career total was 124 goals and 67 assists for 191 points. Nazareth Competed in the Division III National Championship game in 1995 and 1996. As a senior and captain, Neal’s 1996 team finished 15-0 with an overtime goal over Washington College that Neal assisted on to take home the Championship. After the season, Neal was awarded the Rochester Press College Athlete of the Year. That same 1996, 15-0 team has been inducted into the USA Lacrosse Rochester Chapter Hall of Fame. In 2007 Neal was inducted into the Nazareth College Sports Hall of Fame.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
In the fall of 1996, Neal was drafted in the 4th round by the Rochester Knighthawks. That 1996/1997 season the Knighthawks won the World Championship. Neal later moved to the expansion Syracuse Smash for 2 seasons playing alongside Paul Gait. He was later picked in the expansion drafts to both the Columbus Landsharks and New Jersey Storm and finished his career after a trade to the Buffalo Bandits. His final professional game was a loss to the Calgary Roughnecks in the World Championship in 2004. Due to illness, his career was cut short after 7 seasons.
BOX LACROSSE CAREER
In the summer of 1993, Neal began his assault on Canadian hardware in men’s lacrosse at the age of 18. Onondaga’s team won their league and competed for the Presidents Cup, the Sr. B National Championship tournament. In 1995 Neal won the Bronze Medal in the Founders Cup Jr B. National Championship tournament and was the MVP in the Bronze Medal game. In 1996 Neal played for the Six Nations Chiefs of the Sr. A league and won the Mann Cup, becoming the National Champions. Neal would go on to compete in the Presidents Cup tournament 7 more times in his career, winning in the National Championship in 2010 and 2014. During the Presidents Cup in the 2015 Bronze Medal game, he was selected as the game MVP at the age of 40. He retired from playing with the Onondaga Redhawks after this game. Neal has also been inducted into 2 different Indigenous Hall of Fames, the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame (NAIAHF) based out of Minnesota and the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame (AIAHOF) in Oklahoma.
INTERNATIONAL CAREER
Neal began his international career in 1992 as a Captain of the Haudenosaunee Nationals playing in the Field Jr. World Games hosted in Hampstead, NY. Neal also competed for the Men’s Field team in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 in Manchester England, Baltimore USA, Perth AUS, and London CAN, and was a Captain for the 2002 and 2006 teams. In 2002 Neal was the FIRST member of the Haudenosaunee Men’s team to be selected to the ALL-WORLD team. They also lost the bronze medal game by 1 goal that same year. In 2003 Neal won a Silver Medal with the Haudenosaunee Nationals in the INDOOR World Lacrosse Championships, in Hamilton Canada and was in the top 10 in tournament points.
COACHING CAREER
Neal Coached youth lacrosse for the Onondaga Nation for 10 years coaching players from ages 8-17 over those years playing in numerous North American Minor Lacrosse Association (NAMLA) championships. He also was an offense assistant coach for the Onondaga Central High School team that was awarded an honorable mention state ranking in 2009. In 2014 Neal became the FIRST Haudenosaunee head coach of another country’s National FIELD lacrosse team when he led the Netherlands to a 16th place finish in the World Championships. In 2016 the Netherlands finished 7th in the European Championships. He then transitioned to the National Box Team and in 2019 they finished 8th in the World. They again placed well in the 2024 World Championships at 12th place. In 2022 Neal was the Head coach of the Binghamton Bombers, a professional team within the now defunct PBLA.
PROFESSIONAL ENDEAVORS
Neal is currently the University Ombuds at Syracuse University and supports all faculty, staff, and students in managing conflict. He is also a Major Motion Picture movie producer, EMMY Nominated documentarian and public speaker. He is the Co-Founder/Co-Owner of Indigenous Concepts Consulting, a firm that he currently runs with his wife, Michelle, to bridge Native American ideals and culture with organizations and individuals all over the world.
As a Producer of Crooked Arrows, Mr. Powless was responsible for Native story line development, cultural sensitivity and procuring financial investments. He co-produced the NY Emmy Nominated documentary Game of Life; Heart and Soul of the Onondaga, a short documentary about the cultural origins of the game of lacrosse. He also produced and participated on the film: An Indigenous Response to #MeToo and continues to collaborate with Hollywood Studio executives on film and movie projects, alternative media projects and podcasts.
Neal has taught courses and presented across the country and world for 30 years about Indigenous culture and value systems. He is the Co-Founder/Co-Owner of Indigenous Concepts Consulting, a firm that he currently runs with his wife, Michelle, to bridge Native American ideals and culture with organizations and individuals all over the world. They currently support Indigenous curriculum development projects, work with historical departments and museums, and developing Major Motion pictures with different studio labels.
In 2018, one of his PhD papers was published in the book Nasty Women and Bad Hombres: Gender and Race in the 2016 Presidential Election. He also has a chapter in the book, De Gruyter Handbook of Organizational Conflict Management in 2022.
PERSONAL LIFE
Neal is married to his wife Michelle and has four children, Natasha, Maximus, Augustus and Shakowi, and two grandchildren Oliver and Daniel. He resides in Syracuse.
