Great Lakes Lacrosse League Information
The Great Lakes Lacrosse League was founded in 2003 to provide a competitive league for teams in the upper midwest who want to play in a well organized league outside of NCAA restrictions and without the expense of being a 'virtual varsity'. The league is comprised of 20 teams from Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and upper Michigan in close proximity to minimize travel costs and unnecessarily long road trips. Players in the GLLL all love the sport but have demanding academic and other personal obligations, and find a more reasonable commitment in time and money is the right fit for them.
Currently, the teams that are members of the GLLL include UW-Madison A, UW-Madison Badger, Northwestern University, Northern Michigan University, Mad Cow, UW-Whitewater, UW-LaCrosse, Loyola University Chicago, UW-Platteville, UW-Stout, Michigan Tech, St. Norbert College, St. Mary's University Minnesota, UW-Milwaukee, DePaul University, Milwaukee Trombones, University of Chicago, Northern Illinois University, UW-OshKosh, UW-River Falls, Carleton College, and Madison Area Technical College.
The league is dedicated to providing a great schedule of games while keeping expenses and travel time to a minimum. Scheduling is performed centrally, shortly after the annual league meeting where teams indicate their travel and availability preferences. This is a significant benefit to the member teams, who no longer have to coordinate their entire season schedules with all of their opponents. At the league meeting (and throughout the season) each team has a voice to suggest and ratify any changes to our operating rules.
League play consists of several mini-tourneys per season where multiple teams play each other at one site. Playing two games in a day allows teams to get their regular season schedule of about eight games done in four or five days over five weekends in the spring. The season culminates in the championship tournament weekend in which all teams participate and are seeded by regional rankings.
The league is grouped into four regions. Each regional champion recieves a plaque for their season and the top two teams from each region compete for the championship title while the remaining teams compete in a consolation bracket. Trophies are awarded for first through third in both championship and consolation brackets. This format allows both strong teams and developing programs a more competitive experience.
Full expenses for each team's 2006 season will be $1000, which includes league dues, official's fees for eight games, and all tournament fees (three games guaranteed). We plan to keep expenses near this low amount so teams can concentrate on playing lacrosse and not fundraising.
Please contact league coordinator Hal Rosenberg at hjr@chorus.net or call him at 608.772.4298 if you are interested in learning how your team can join or simply to get more information.
