Tournaments and Events
Northern Lights has hosted or attended many of these events for years – some for over 25 years. We know exactly which events are the most beneficial for your development. Here is a listing of some of the tournaments & events teams will attend this year.
Northern Lights Power League
The Northern Lights Power League is one of the original power leagues in the Nation. The league is played at the Midwest Volleyball Warehouse (our practice facility and home base) which is the undisputed top volleyball facility in the Midwest if not the entire USA. Nowhere else do you have 8 courts in over 60,000 sq ft with bleachers and a mezzanine for spectators, oversized run-off area on the courts, electronic scoreboards, and a huge fully licensed concession area. Even our parking has 4 times the capacity of any other volleyball facility in the Twin Cities! In 2025, the Northern Lights Power League will be focusing on the 12U ad 14U age groups.
Twin Cities Molten Series
Mizuno Northern Lights, Mizuno M1, and MN Select have joined in an cooperative effort to host the Twin Cities Molten Series League again for the 2025 club season. The Molten Series is held at all three clubs’ facilities and plays five dates of bracket play. Northern Lights 15’s – 18’s as well as a select few younger teams will participate in the Molten Series.
January Thaw
Held side-by-side with the January Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier, this three-day tournament is the first big multi-day tournament of the year for Northern Lights girls 14’s, 15’s, and 16’s teams and boys 16’s and 18’s teams.
Presidents’ Day Classic
The Presidents’ Day Classic in Omaha established itself about 20 years ago as the premier event on Presidents’ Day in the Midwest. It is held in the Omaha Convention Center and had teams from all over the Midwest. The best teams from Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Florida, and Texas all attend. The Omaha event will have high-level competition, have paid officials, be run over 3 days so as to not over-stress the athletes, has one 40 court & one 9 court site where all the college coaches can see everyone, and give our players competition against teams they will see in the later Qualifiers.
National Qualifiers – Show Me (Kansas City), Mideast (Indianapolis), LoneStar (Dallas) and Northern Lights (Minneapolis)
These are several of the 12 National Qualifiers in the USA. The Mideast Qualifier is held in Indianapolis, the Northeast Qualifier is held in Philadelphia, The LoneStar Qualifier is held in Dallas, and the Show Me Qualifier is held in Kansas City – these are just an example of qualifiers we might attend. Our players will travel by air or bus (included in your fees) to one or more of these events. The Northern Lights Qualifier is the event held in the Minneapolis Convention Center that we as a club also operate. This year our 17’s and 18’s teams will compete in the Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier in January and 11’s – 15’s in March. As an established Club our #1 teams have always been accepted and played in the Open Divisions of these events. The competition is intense, and we’ve won several Qualifiers in past years. Last year we medaled in several age divisions. Needless to say these events are loaded with college coaches, and the Northern Lights name recognition assures that our players are seen.
AAU National Championships
The AAU National Championship is held in Orlando, Florida each June. This is a great year end event for our teams that are not attending US Junior National Championships, and a great warm-up event for those going to USJNC’s. Held at the Orlando Convention Center this tournament is watched by hundreds of college coaches, and allows us to have some fun in the sun while also playing other top clubs such as KIVA, Premier Nebraska, TAV and OTVA. Northern Lights is very successful every year and it is a rare year when one or more of our teams doesn’t bring home a National Championship. This tournament has proven to be the most popular trip we take with our players …..maybe it’s because of the luxurious housing we stay in!
USA Girls Juniors National Championships
The GJNC’s are where the best play against the best! This is THE top competition of the year. If you can get there it’s an accomplishment! In 2025, this event will be held in Dallas, TX (for 14’s – 17’s teams) and in Salt Lake City, UT (for 18’s teams). In order to participate at this event, qualification is needed at either a National or Regional Qualifier tournament. Northern Lights is extremely proud to have qualified more teams for this event than any other club in Minnesota.