Lacrosse Magazine, March 2003
A Meeting of Traditions
by: Brian Logue
Herkimer County Community College has a long tradition of success in lacrosse. The school in upstate New York has won 19 consecutive regional championships at the junior college level, once won 59 straight games and has seven national championships to their credit. Numerous players have gone on to star at four-year colleges and a handful-like Frederick Opie and Butch Marino-have moved on to play in the world championships. Its head coach, Paul Wehrum, was an assistant coach for the winning U.S. team at the 1988 world championships.
But all of those accomplishments pale in comparison to the centuries-old tradition of Native American lacrosse.
Front row: Reweras Mitchell & Delby Powless Standing: Mike Abrams, Ron Cogan & Roger Vyse Herkimer 2002
In recent years, Wehrum has seen a marriage of the two traditions and the results have been beneficial on both sides. Some of the players have come from the Onondaga nation, just over an hours drive from Herkimer.
Herkimer’s 2002 team, which reached the national semi-finals, featured five Native Americans-Mike Abrams, Ron Cogan, Rawaras Mitchell, Delby Powless, and Roger Vyse.
Wehrum’s current run of success with Native American players began with Jim Barnes. Barnes ended up serving as a captain for Herkimer, was a two-time academic All-American and went on to play for a national championship team at Salisbury University.
“He was an unbelievable leader,” said Wehrum. “He played longstick, mandown, midfield. He was always switching his sticks.”
Barnes also displayed a trait that other Native Americans that Wehrum has coached have also displayed.
“Their love and passion for the sport is beyond comprehension,” said Wehrum.
Barnes, who gave a talk on Native American history and culture to a local high school while he was a student at Herkimer, is now a full-time teacher on the reservation.
The run on good players didn’t end with Barnes. “He encouraged other kids to come here,” said Wehrum. The rest, as they say, is history.
Jeff Powless was the starting goalie and All-American for Herkimer’s 2001 national finalist and is now playing at Bucknell, coached by another Native American, Sid Jamieson.
Mitchell was a two-time academic All-American at Herkimer and is now playing at Hartford.
Abrams is a sophomore at Herkimer that will start on defense this year. He’s the younger brother of former Syracuse and current professional star Marshall Abrams.
Cogan was captain and first team All-American last year with Division I talent that expects to complete his degree in this spring. Vyse is a left-hander who returns as a starter this season after scoring 58 goals and 25 assists last year.
The most celebrated of Herkimer’s recent players has been Delby Powless.
Delby Powless also played on the 2001 team and was a first team All-American for Herkimer last year. He played for the Iroquois Nationals at last summer’s International Lacrosse Federation World Championship in Australia and scored four goals in a losing effort to the United States in the semifinals.
“Delby was one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached,’ said Wehrum. “He’s been a winner at everything he’s done.”
In his first game for Herkimer, Powless scored nine goals against Catonsville.
“I honestly didn’t see four of them,” says Wehrum. “He’s just this chubby little kid standing on the crease.”
Powless is just 5-foot-6, but weighs a sturdy 177 pounds and now is in his first year at Rutgers University where head coach Jim Stagnitta expects big things from him.
“He’s a great kid with tremendous passion for the game,” said Stagnitta. “He’s very talented and he’s a tough, hard-nosed inside player from all of the years of playing box. He has a knack of handling things other kids don’t.”
Coaching these players, and getting to better understand their culture, has been a rewarding experience for Wehrum.
“Their love for the sport is the best thing,” said Wehrum. “Their dedication is like… it is a religion to them. They’ll never miss a practice, this is their time to play.”
Of course there are exceptions to every rule. Michell, one of the elders in his community, had to leave one practice last year.
“They were doing some construction and they found some bones,” said Wehrum. “The bones cannot be disturbed unless an elder is present so he had to leave practice to take them back to the reservation. I’ve never had that happen before.”
That was a reminder of the culture of the Native Americans and while lacrosse is a very important part of that culture, there are more important things.
Delby Powless sees lacrosse as a way to help him help future generations of people.
“He has a strong desire to be more than a lacrosse player,” said Stagnitta. “He wants to go back up North, whether it’s on the reserve or not, and become a teacher. Lacrosse was a means for him to receive a quality education.”
That’s been a key factor for Wehrum in judging the success of the Native Americans that have come to play for him.
“I’m really proud when they do the work in the classroom,” said Wehrum.