by By Dan Ninham, contributing writer
Blaine Powless is a tribal member of the Oneida Nation of the Thames. In the fall of 2023 he will be in the 11th grade at Saunders Secondary School. He competes in lacrosse for the London Blue Devils U17 Box and Field, Jr. B Box, Jr. NLL Rochester Knighthawks, Haudenosaunee Box and Field, and club teams with Snake Island and Six Nations.
Powless was the Gold Medal MVP at the 2022 International Indoor Worlds Lacrosse Championship and the Indoor Worlds All Star Goaltender. He was the 2023 Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) Bronze Medalist with U17, All Star Team for OLA, and MVP for goalie for OLA tournaments and championships.
Indigenous core values define how athletes practice and compete. “I play for those who are no longer here, I play with my heart and my mind for the creator and my ancestors as this is our Medicine Game,” said Blaine Powless.
Elite athletes are always preparing to compete to work toward playing at a high performance level. “I am working at finishing my final year of OLA with London Blue Devils U17, and we’re in the A Qualifiers,” said Powless. “I am getting ready for showcases and summer/fall lacrosse with my club teams and getting ready for the Jr. B Lacrosse season.”
Mentors help guide athletes on and off the field. Powless has many mentors. He said, “I have several people that I look up to that have helped guide me in my lacrosse journey, including lax coaches and my dad who have always supported me and my goals.”
“Blaine knew he was on his way when he started to work year round on his goalie skills,” said Tyler Turner. “Be it field or box. He made our U17 team last year and ended up our #1 and was key in bringing its first even medal at final six Ontario summer games.”
Dan Candy has coached Blaine for eight years. He said, “Blaine has always been a good goalie but didn’t show that he was an elite goalie until his Bantam years. I knew he had something when he kept playing in every tournament he could no matter how far away it was. He started working out and training hard and last year was steadily improving to be one of the best 2007 goalies in the province. I am very proud of Blaine mostly because of his effort to become better.”
