The GCLA....a brief history
The GCLA was formed in 1995 by both the Houston Metropolitan Lacrosse Club and the New Orleans Lacrosse Club.
The main motivation for its formation was to simply help the sport grow. Existing leagues had consolidated their teams into major metropolitan areas and had left many teams behind, both college and club. The GCLA sought to not only recover and restart the programs left behind, but to start additional ones as well.
The first season of competition was 1996. The league was small in terms of members, but made up for it in spirit. The first GCLA Championship Playoffs were held at City Park in New Orleans. In the semifinal games, Houston-Metro slid past the Jackson Thunder, while Tulane staged a come-from-behind win over crosstown rival New Orleans. Tulane then came from behind again in the championship game, defeating Metro 8-5 to capture the league's very first title.
The following season, 1997, saw the playoffs held in Lafayette in extremely wet conditions. In the semifinals, New Orleans defeated the Houston Roughnecks while Metro defeated Loyola. Metro then came from behind to defeat New Orleans to capture its first ever GCLA Championship.
The next several years would see terrific growth throughout the league, although the greatest concentration of new teams was in the Houston area. That did not prevent outside teams from claiming the crown at times, however, as Corpus Christi emerged as a league power.
Gradually, with the league expanding outwards, the notion of one, primary GCLA Playoff fell out of favor and the playoff championships became more conference focused. In this way, teams that had traveled great distances to compete in the playoffs would now have a much more fair shot at a title.
2020, with the whole covid issue, provided the league with its own set of challenges, and the economic slowdown which followed did not help. Still, the GCLA carried on as best it could. Despite the expected attrition, the league continues in its rebuilding and recovery plans. These efforts continue today.
The GCLA began out of necessity for the betterment of the sport, and that necessity is still apparent to this day. The league will always have a role in the sport of lacrosse, and we hope as many people and teams as possible find our league to be their home.
GCLA Playoff Champions
1996- Tulane University
1997- Houston-Metro
1998- Houston-Metro
1999- Houston-Metro
2000- Tulane University
2001- Houston-Metro
2002- Houston-Metro
2003- NAS-Corpus Christi
2004- Houston-Metro
2005- Houston-Metro
2006- Tony's Tavern
2007- Tony's Tavern
2008- Houston Lone Star
GCLA West Region Playoff Champions
2009- Houston-Northwest
2010- Houston-Northwest
2011- Corpus Christi
2012- Corpus Christi
2013- Houston Predators
2014- Cypress Cyclones
2015- Bay Area Barnacles
2016- St. Arnolds
2017- St. Arnolds
2018- St. Arnolds
GCLA Western Conference Playoffs Champions
2019- Houston Heights
2020- No Playoffs (covid)
2021- Houston Heights
2022- Cypress Cyclones
2023- North Stars
2024- Brazoria Panthers
GCLA South Region Playoffs Champions
2016- Trinity University