Soccer in Michigan continues to be an exciting yet amorphous landscape. Once you think you’ve got your arms wrapped around it, there’s a change. The MidWest Premier League, the new regional league set to debut in 2021, announced a new member club on Monday. Michigan Stars FC is creating a new U-23 team to play in the MWPL. The Michigan Stars U-23 team will call the Michigan Stars Sports Complex in Washington Township, MI. their home. The Michigan Stars are the second National Independent Soccer League (NISA) reserve side to join the MWPL.

In 2021, Michigan will boast over two dozen lower league clubs, across at least six leagues. Included in the mass of teams are the two professional teams in NISA, and the new and still growing MWPL. Detroit City FC and Michigan Stars FC will embark on what they hope is their first, full-length professional seasons in NISA, while the MidWest Premier League continues to make waves ahead of their debut season by becoming home to the NISA U-23 sides.

Graphic by Evan Wiseman. Used with permission.

MWPL has 14 member clubs, as of now, and the East Division is composed entirely of Michigan clubs. Among them; the well-traveled Livonia City FC, former MPSL side Lake St. Clair, UPSL transfer clubs BiH Grand Rapids and Inter Detroit, a new community-built Lansing Common FC, the Detroit City FC U-23 team, and now the Michigan Stars U-23 side. The U-23 teams will give more playing opportunities to amateur players, and allow the clubs to keep promising players within their setup and on their training grounds.

In a state with very little recent professional soccer history, Michigan has become a hot spot for lower league soccer in the United States. Due in part to the unprecedented successes of Detroit City FC and the absence of a local MLS outfit, there is a wildfire of soccer ambition, energy, and entrepreneurs in the great lake state.

Typical of lower league soccer in the USA, there has been a considerable reshuffling of Michigan-based clubs between the various leagues. The NPSL’s Great Lakes Conference, once a bright light of the elite amateur club game in 2017 and 2018, is now unrecognizable. The league has seen a 100% turnover of its member clubs heading into the 2021 season. It’s not just NPSL with a club retention issue. The UPSL’s Midwest Conference-East Division has likewise seen a 100% change of its Michigan member clubs since the 2019 season.

MWPL and USL League 2 appear to be the big winners of this year’s round of club musical chairs. Each of the leagues landed both the known commodities of the NPSL and the exciting new members of Michigan’s lower league soccer scene.

Follow along with Protagonist’s coverage to stay up to date with MWPL’s debut season, NISA, and all of the exciting developments across Michigan’s soccer landscape. Word on the street is that there will be another announcement on Thursday, so stay tuned for that!

- Robert Kerr