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Soccer is constantly growing in Troup County. The LaGrange Premier Soccer League is another step in the evolution of The Beautiful Game in the area. 

“We want to continue to grow soccer here in LaGrange and give people a safe place that is worth playing at,” said Alex Orellana, who created the league. “When you normally hear about a Sunday League, you think it’s going to be crappy, but we are trying to change that.”

Every Sunday for as long as the league can rent the Lafayette Christian soccer field, teams will be battling it out under the sun. 

“Our goal is to have just one or two weeks off after the championship and then start a new season,” Orellana said. 

Johnny Corral added that the Lafayette Christian field is very well maintained which he believes sets their Sunday league out from others.

Orellana, with the help of Corral, has turned this idea into a reality. 

“At first we were aiming for six teams, so to get eight makes us very thankful,” Corral said. “Our goal is to get 14 teams together in the next two seasons.

“There are more people out there that are hearing about our league and wanting to come play.”

Current teams are made of players from Troup County, but also from Chambers County and as far as Opelika and Newnan.

Corral and Orellana believe that offering a safe kid-friendly environment is key.

“We don’t allow smoking, drugs, alcohol anything,” Corral said. “We want to have families out here having a good time.”

It also helps that it is truly a fiesta of fútbol as those in attendance get to enjoy good food, good soccer and a fun atmosphere.

“I have never seen anything like this in my seven years here in LaGrange,” Corral said. “It really is beautiful to see it all come together.”

All are welcome, and it costs just $4 to get in. The money quickly goes right back into acquiring new equipment for the league.

“We have a good sound system, a good camera to record and we are working on investing in drones and anything else we can think of that would help get us exposure,” Corral said. “People can easily see the entrance fee invested right back into the league and the technology we have.”

The league live streams every game and records video for players to look back on and use for highlights.

“We want to continue to make it more professional and more organized,” Orellana said. 

The league is “casual”, but the goal is to continue to expand and become more semi-professional.

“Our hope is that eventually we will be able to promote players from this league to other leagues or even some local clubs,” Orellana said. “As we continue to grow, we want to go beyond focusing on the adults and start focusing on the kids as well.”

It is an all day event, and Orellana and Corral encourage as many people to come out as possible, even if that means staying for just a game or two and grabbing some street tacos.