Great Lakes Alliance accepting applications for 2022-23 season

Team-based opportunity for boys and girls; application deadline is June 10

Via Great Lakes Alliance | CLEVELAND, Ohio (May 27, 2022) – The Great Lakes Alliance, a member of the National Premier Leagues (NPL), is currently in its fifth season covering Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Western New York, West Virginia, as well as Western and Central Pennsylvania.

For the 2022-23 season, Great Lakes Alliance will be a U-10 through U-19 regional league for both boys and girls. U-10 through U-14 athletes begin play in the fall, while U-15 through U-19 players will begin after the high school season. The GLA has two divisions: GLA-NPL and GLA Premier for U-10 to U-19.

The GLA-NPL and GLA Premier will be divided into two conferences per age group. The two conferences encompass teams from Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Western New York, as well as Central and Western Pennsylvania. The conferences are divided geographically to minimize travel as much as possible.

U-10 through U-14 players have a 15-game schedule throughout the year. Two GLA crossover weekends will be held in the fall and another two in the spring. U-10 through U-12 teams play two games per day and U-13 and U-14 play once per day with all those matches against teams from the other conference. The other seven games are self-scheduled matches. The top four teams per age group advance to the championship weekend with semifinals and finals.

U-15 through U-19 players have an 11-game schedule, including a Girls GLA-NPL College Showcase, March 3-5, and a Boys GLA-NPL College Showcase, March 10-12. The Showcases are for GLA-NPL and GLA Premier teams only. The other eight games will be self-scheduled matches. The top two teams from each conference advances to the championship weekend with the top seed from one conference playing the second seed in the other conference in the semifinals. Semifinal winners then advance to the championship game.

The GLA Playoffs will be at the Pro Football HOF Sports Complex, June 3-4. The GLA-NPL Division champions qualify to the annual NPL postseason, while the GLA Premier Division champions (U-13 through U-19) advance to the National Cup Midwest Regional.

The application can be accessed here. For more information about the Great Lakes Alliance, please visit glasoccer.com. Questions can be directed to Ed Bernstein at bern@glasoccer.com.