Barry Powless has made his mark in lacrosse on both sides of the border as a player, coach and manager in both box and field versions of the game.
While at Lafayette H.S. near Syracuse he was named a USLA High School All American. He went on to play attack at Syracuse University. After Syracuse he played in the 1980 World Lacrosse Championship and won the Silver Medal as part of the Can-Am Warriors squad in Vancouver.
After getting a taste of West Coast life he would play for the next decade in the Vancouver area. In 1981 he would play and star for both the North Shore Indians and the New Westminster Salmonbellies who would win the Mann Cup.
In 1985 he captured a Presidents Cup with the North Shore Indians. He would join the Vancouver Burrards and the Coquitlam Adanacs during that time. He even made his mark in Field Lacrosse playing for the Vancouver Field Lacrosse Club and won a Provincial Championship and made the All-Star Team.
In 1990 he would head back east and helped propel the Fergus Thistles to a Presidents Cup Championship. That same year Powless played for the inaugural Iroquois National team in the World Championships in Perth, Australia. In 1992 he was picked up by the Buffalo Bandits in and would win an MILL Championship.
Powless would play at the Senior B level until his retirement at the advanced age of 50 years! This lengthy career brought him many honours including induction into the Ontario Lacross Hall of Fame in 1999, US Lacrosse Upstate New York Chapter Hall of Fame in 2015, the Akwesasne Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2018, the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2021 as a member of the Salmonbellies Organization and others. This year he was inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletic Hall of Fame.
His coaching and managing endeavours included Head Coach of the MLL Rochester Knighthawks from 1995-1997, VP of Lacrosse Operations for the NLL from 2000-2002 and Assistant Coach for the Iroquois 2003 World Indoor Finalists.
Barry Powless has done just about everything a lacrosse person can do
The Youtube video is attached, but you can also catch all the videos at the link below
About the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation
The Canadian Lacrosse Foundation (CLF) is a charitable organization established in 1996 to administer and grow an endowment fund that is used to develop and execute charitable activities within the lacrosse community. The primary purpose of the Foundation can be summarized as follows- (a) To advance the public understanding of the role of lacrosse in the history and cultural development of Canada;(b) To educate and instruct lacrosse coaches and officials on the rules of the game and player development;(c) To provide lacrosse programs in order to support the physical, mental and emotional well-being of aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities and troubled youth; and(d) To receive or maintain a fund or funds and to apply all or part of the principal and income therefrom, from time to time, to qualified donees under the Income Tax Act (Canada).
For more information, please contact:
Jim Calder
Director
Canadian Lacrosse Foundation
Email: james.calder2@sympatico.ca