At the European Box Lacrosse Championships in Hannover Germany Neal Powless (Head Coach Dutch Box Lacrosse), Heath Garlow (Head Coach Poland Box Lacrosse) and Arttu Sesselaar (European Lax Rat) sat down to have a conversation, like they had several in the evenings that tournament.
The conversation with as a starting point the state of lacrosse in Europe for both the men and women's game and going further into the roots of the game that we all love so dearly. The conversation develops into an in depth look into the roots and tradition and touches the dark pages of the history too. A long conversation, like many that tournament, but one that teaches you a thing or two about the history of the game and life in general. Give it a try, you won't regret it.
Aho!
In the podcast The Creator's Game in Europe we refer to the conversation we had about Mascots.
On behalf of the European Lacrosse Federation (2020) we had this online conversation and Q&A about Indigenous mascots and their social impact globally.
Onondaga Nation
Neal Powless has been the head coach of the Dutch Box Lacrosse program since 2016 before that he has been the coach of the Dutch field program in the tournaments in 2014 and 2016.
As a player Neal was a three-time All-American in field lacrosse at Nazareth College. Powless also played on the Iroquois Nationals at the World Lacrosse Championships in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006.
Neal Powless currently serves as the ombuds at the University of Syracuse
Seneca Nation
Heath has been the head coach of the Polish Box Lacrosse Program since its foundation in 2016 and has traveled all over Europe with them to develop the box game.
Netherlands
Arttu is the assistant coach of the Dutch Box Lacrosse program running all practices for men and women in the Netherlands. He's eager to learn the game from his peers Neal Powless and Wayne Colley.
Arttu has been involved in lacrosse ever since its foundation in the Netherlands in 2005. First with his club Amsterdam, later founding the Dutch Lacrosse Federation with likeminded players who wanted to go to their first international adventure at the 2006 World Championships in London Ontario.
As a player Arttu has competed in the European and World stages in both Field and Box Lacrosse with as a highlight becoming 2nd in the European Championships in 2008 in Lahti, Finland.
Arttu is a proud father of two daughters and runs a media company in Amsterdam (Fennel Creative Content)