ABOUT
The Gateway League is a tournament for all ages u11-u18 with teams having 3 weekends of play. Play will begin in January and end in February for all divisions and age groups. Best 2-out-of-3 match play will be used for all matches. The u11-u12 age groups and the u13-u18 age groups will have separate formats from one another to provide each with a more appropriate experience.
The u13-u18 format will provide both a Power Division and Premier Division with all teams given the opportunity to advance to the Power Division at least once over the length of the tournament regardless of initial placement. The u11-u12 format will only offer a Premier Division, but will allow one team from the u11s age group and one team from the u12 age group the ability to advance to the Premier Division of the next older age group, u12 & u13 respectively after the 2nd Weekend of play. The Power Division will be divided into a u14-u15 age group, and a u16-u18 age group.
In the u13-u18 age groups the 1st weekend will provide either a Challenge Round, Play-In Round or Seeding Round to teams to help position them for the 2nd weekend of play. The 2nd weekend will begin Power Division play and continue Premier Division play. The tournament will finish on the 3rd weekend and will be the championship weekend for both the Power and Premier Divisions. In the u11 & u12 age groups the 1st and 2nd weekend of play will play a round-robin format to seed teams into the championship weekend.
The Challenge Round’s purpose is to provide additional elevated competition opportunities to teams that have earned that right based on previous year’s qualifications and that are justified based on the current year projected strength. The Gateway League will only offer this round to the u16-u18 age groups this season, but will evaluate the opportunity for the u14-u15 age groups to add this round based on need in the future. All teams in the Challenge Round will advance to the Power Division on the 2nd Weekend.
The Play-In Round will be seeded based on previous year’s qualifications as well as current year’s projected strength. Teams participating in this round will be competing to advance to the Power Division on the 2nd Weekend. There will be a Play-In Round for every age group u13s through u18s. Based on finish, teams will either advance to the Power Division or Premier Division for play on the 2nd Weekend. Power Division advancement numbers may be different from age group to age group, and will be pre-determined prior to the start of Gateway League play.
The Seeding Round begins the 1st Weekend of play for the Premier Division in the u13s-u18s age groups. Teams that were not seeded into the Challenge or Play-In Rounds will compete for seeding purposes for the 2nd Weekend of expanded Premier Division play. The 2nd Weekend of the Premier Division will crown an age division champion for each age group u13-u18. It will also provide every team with an opportunity to advance to the Power Division Championship Weekend, or advance to an inter-age-group Premier Division Championship on the final weekend of play. Power Division advancement numbers may be different from age group to age group, and will be pre-determined prior to the start of Gateway League play.
The 3rd Weekend of play will crown champions in the following divisions and age groups.
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Power Division u16s-u18s
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Power Division u14s-u15s
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Premier Division u17s/u18s
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Premier Division u15s/u16s
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Premier Division u13s/u14s
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Premier Division u12s
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Premier Division u11s
This is a tournament for EVERYONE, it allows everyone the opportunity to support the Gateway Region and play together! The Gateway League is not operated by the Gateway Region, but it is supported by the clubs, for the clubs. It has been agreed upon that any profit that is made by this league is given back to the clubs that participated within the league based on number of teams entered by the club; therefore, everyone will not only benefit from the competition of the GWL, but also has the possibility to benefit financially.