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Kids on the Pitch Podcast: Blair Gerlach on building club culture and success with Northern Steel

Photo courtesy Northern Steel

The fall scholastic and youth soccer seasons are almost here, so that means it’s time to kick the Kids on the Pitch Podcast back into gear.

On the newest episode of this podcast, Pittsburgh Soccer Now‘s John Krysinsky is joined by Blair Gerlach, who many in soccer circles in Western PA will know from his successful and ongoing tenure as Head Coach of Mars girls’ soccer program.

What you may not know, is that Gerlach is also Director of Coaching and coaches a number of teams for Northern Steel, which has become an excellent club-based North of Pittsburgh.  In addition, Northern Steel began a women’s U23 squad under Gerlach’s leadership.  Since that time, in the Ohio Valley Premier League, Northern Steel has become a dynasty, winning back-to-back OVPL titles in 2024 and 2025.

In this interview, Gerlach talks about the journey of building a club culture at Northern Steel, the challenges of the ever-changing landscape of youth soccer, the tremendous growth of girls/women’s soccer, progression and path of US Club Soccer National Championship winning squad (2011 Blue) and he also takes a few moments at the end of the interview to talk about Mars girls program and challenges of playing in one of the most competitive Classifications in all of high school soccer in Western PA (Girls 3A).

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More about OVPL

OVPL is the premier U23 adult amateur soccer competition throughout the Ohio Valley region (Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia).

The Ohio Valley Premier League (OVPL) was founded to fill the void for the region’s soccer clubs by elevating the player pyramid to continue the U23 player’s development pathway. The OVPL is a member of US Club Soccer, open to men’s and women’s teams.

With a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Kings Hammer FC (Cincinnati), Northern Steel’s U23+ Women’s Team claimed the 2025 OVPL title.

Undefeated in both of their first two seasons, they’ve now earned back-to-back league championships.

US Club National Championships 

Last year, the Northern Steel’s 2011 Blue team won the U.S. Club Premier national title and could have gone for a second straight crown at that level this season. Instead, it moved up a division to the National Premier League. With five victories in Denver earlier this month, Northern Steel returned home as champions once again.

The tournament included 16 teams from around the country.

Northern Steel reached the event by winning the Great Lakes Region championship in Canton, Ohio, in early June. Wins over teams from California, Illinois, Tennessee and Minnesota landed it in the final against Culver City FC.

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John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of 'Miracle on the Mon' -- a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).

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