Ward Selected to Lead Haudenosaunee Nationals U20 at 2025 World Championships

LAKELAND, Fla. - Haudenosaunee Nationals General Manager Delby Powless announced the appointment of Florida Southern College men's lacrosse head coach Marty Ward as the head coach for the U20 Haudenosaunee (ho-dee-no-show-nee) Nationals team for the 2025 World Lacrosse Championships, which will take place in Seoguipo, South Korea.
 
"We're really excited to have Marty on board," Powless said. "He was the first name for us when we were searching for a head coach. I'm a big believer in letting the head coach pick their staff, so Marty was instrumental in helping to round out the staff with people he's comfortable with and happy with."
 
Ward has served as the head coach at Florida Southern College since 2011 and has led the Moccasins 115 victories and his team's have advanced to three-straight Sunshine State Conference Tournaments including back-to-back championship game appearances in 2022 and 2023. He has coached all 13 USILA All-Americans in program history. He has seen two student-athletes earn CSC Academic All-America At-Large while six have earned USILA Scholar All-America honors.
 
"I am truly honored to lead the U20 Haudenosaunee Nationals for the 2025 World Championships," said Ward. "Our staff is looking forward to putting together a tremendous group of young men that can develop as ambassadors of the game on the field and off, while working to achieve our goal of winning Gold, we are excited to get started!"
 
Ward is a member of the Cherokee Nation and has competed for the Haudenosaunee, formerly Iroquois, Nationals, helping the team medal as a goaltender in 2014. He was also a member of the 2006 and 2010 Men's National teams. He is currently the only Indigenous Head Coach at any level in the NCAA. He served as an assistant coach on the 2012 U19 Haudenosaunee Nationals team that captured the bronze medal in Turku, Finland and defeated Team USA for the first time in program history.
 
The Haudenosaunee are credited with inventing lacrosse, North America's oldest organized sport. The game is still used as a spiritual and healing game throughout the Haudenosaunee territories.
 
Joining Powless and Ward on the staff are Assistant GM Taylor Smoke, Offensive Coordinator Chris Doctor (Assistant Coach, Sacred Heart), Defensive Coordinator Sean Woods (Head Coach, Amherst), as well as Defensive Assistant Ron John (Player, Ottawa Black Bears (NLL)/California Redwoods (PLL)), Offensive Assistant Blake Gibson-McDonald (Player, Las Vegas Desert Dogs (NLL)), Goalie and Face-Off Coach Andy Meyers (Assistant Coach, Penn State), and Video Coach Jon Lanzalotto (Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator/Montclair State).
 
The Haudenosaunee Nationals have captured bronze at the last four U20 World Lacrosse Championships and look to improve on those performances in 2025 in South Korea. The staff will now look towards the construction of the roster for next summer's games.
 
The Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse Organization is an indigenous sports organization (the only one of its kind in the world) that competes on the world stage. They are sanctioned by the sovereign Haudenosaunee Grand Council and are governed by the Haudenosaunee Nationals Board of Directors. The Haudenosaunee Nationals Board of Trustees is the fiscal arm of the Haudenosaunee Nationals. To find out more about the organization visit www.haudenosauneenationals.com.