Club Profile

The Lake Erie Soccer Club is an organization committed to the growth of competitive soccer in the Erie, Pennsylvania area.  In our efforts to achieve this goal, we offer players an opportunity to compete in regional and national tournaments, both indoor and outdoor, and the chance to travel and play in other countries around the world.

Besides developing a higher level of skill, our organization promotes a strong sense of sportsmanship.  Our Club takes pride in this sportsmanship and the behavior and attitudes of each of our student athletes.  It is because of this that we evaluate not only the soccer ability of potential members but also their character and demeanor.

The club fields Sunday travel teams of both boys and girls. Girls and boys teams also play in the classic division under the Erie United title.

Club History

The Lake Erie Soccer Club of Erie, PA was formed in November 1985 by Marikae Cerami and the parents of twenty local female players.  The girls represented four different high schools in the area.  The long range goal of the Club was to create a competitive traveling team of players regardless of their school affiliation.

Following months of fund raising efforts, Cerami and her family accompanied a team of eighteen girls to the San Francisco area and then to Hawaii.  The team played friendly matches along the way and then participated in the Under 19 division of the Hawaiian Pineapple Cup Tournament in Honolulu.  The team was undefeated during the trip.

In May 1987 the Club formally added an Under 16 girls' team.  In July of that year, the Cerami family and twelve Club members traveled by train through the Canadian Rockies from Calgary to Vancouver and then to their ultimate destination in Seattle, Washington.  The girls attended the Northwest Soccer Camp on Whidby Island, north of Seattle.  The camp is sponsored by Cliff McGrath, highly successful Division II NCAA coach and strong supporter of the Club.

The Club's first boys' team was formed in September 1987 and consisted of nine Under 12 members.  The team grew to fifteen players and because of its success the Club added an Under 16 boys' team in May 1988.  These efforts were a catalyst for increased interest from many other members of the soccer community.  The club's core group of coaches and parents voted to extend the Club membership.

In August 1988 tryouts were held and the Club grew to eight teams including Under 12, 14, 16 and 19 boys and Under 14, 16 and 19 girls.

The inaugural trip for a LESC boys' team occurred in 1990.  Nineteen boys from the U16 and U19 squads took to the air for a seventeen day excursion to the European continent.  France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and England awaited our players.  The trip culminated with participation in the Anglo-Scandinavian Youth Soccer Tournament in Colchester, England.  The trip also included some great sightseeing as well as a twenty-four hour ferry ride across the North Sea from Denmark to England.

Today, Lake Erie Soccer Club continues to be the oldest competitive soccer club in the Erie County area.  

The Erie United Soccer Club began in 1994 with one team.  It was the U16 Boys and the team was made up of boys from the LESC U15 and U16 teams.  In 1995 the U17 girls' team was added.  These teams fall under the LESC sanctioning and follow the same rules and guidelines as all of the LESC athletes.