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Washington Evening Journal
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Volunteers organize adult sports in Marengo
MARENGO — Whether they are competitive or casual athletes, adults in Marengo have an outlet for their sports craving.
Softball, volleyball and pickleball are on the adult recreation menu, and bags and basketball are in the works, thanks to volunteers in the community.
Mindi Slaymaker brought pickleball to Marengo in 2023. “It’ll be a year in March,” Slaymaker said.
“I started playing over in Williamsburg,” Slaymaker said. She thought, “We need this in Marengo.”
Slaymaker’s first call was to Barry Goettsch, chief executive officer of Compass Memorial Healthcare, to see if the hospital would donate equipment. The hospital provided nets, paddles and balls.
Then Slaymaker asked the Iowa Valley Community School District if she could use the gymnasium at the elementary school for the league, and the school district agreed to allow it.
When the gym was built, the school intended it for community as well as school use, said Slaymaker.
Next Slaymaker met with the Marengo City Council, which supported pickleball as an adult recreation program.
The city provides the insurance to take care of liabilities associated with the activity, Slaymaker said. It asked only that a person pay a one-time fee of $1 to join the league.
During the school year, the gym is open 6-8 p.m. each Wednesday for pickleball, depending on gym availability, and Slaymaker’s availability. Right now Slaymaker has no one to oversee the activity if she can’t make it.
Dates and times may change during the summer. Slaymaker posts announcements to the Marengo Adult Sports Rec Leagues Facebook page.
“It’s kind of a hub,” said Slaymaker. Nathan Vonlienen set up the page when he started the competitive softball and volleyball leagues two years ago.
Pickleball isn’t organized as a league, said Slaymaker. “It’s kind of like open pickleball. If you can’t get here until 7, you just join in.”
People come and go as they please, change partners and play to their abilities. “We’ve had from 18 to — Jim Sauerbrei is 76.”
“We always have enough to play,” said Slaymaker. Sometimes she only needs to set up one net, sometimes two, sometimes three.
“We’ve had between 14 and 17 people here,” Slaymaker said, but 30-40 people have come through in the past year.
“We’ll teach you how to play if you haven’t played before.”
Pickleball is open to any adult that wants to drive over to the gym. People come from all over Iowa County and from Benton County.
“It’s the fastest growing sport in the United States,” Slaymaker said.
Pickleball was invented in the 1960s by Joel Pritchard, a congressman from Washington State, and business owner Bill Bell, according to USA Pickleball.
The men improvised a game when their families were gathered at Pritchard’s home on Bainbridge Island, Washington. The property had an old badminton court, but the men couldn’t find a full set of rackets or shuttlecocks, so they grabbed Ping-Pong paddles and Wiffle balls.
Joel’s wife, Joan, a former competitive rower, came up with the name because the game reminded her of a pickleboat, a term that refers to weaker, mismatched crew boat teams.
Pritchard has been quoted saying that the story that the name came from the family dog, Pickles, is not accurate; Pickles didn’t come into the family until two years after the name was invented.
The dog was named for the game, Pritchard has said.
Softball, volleyball
Vonlienen is more competitive than Slaymaker, and the adult leagues he runs in Marengo — volleyball and softball — produce champions, a trophy and monetary payouts.
Vonlienen and friends run softball and sand volleyball leagues in the summer. During the winter, volleyball moves indoors to Iowa Valley High School.
“I just loved playing,” said Vonlienen. He was driving to Cedar Rapids and Iowa City to play volleyball. “I was traveling too much,” he said.
So Vonlienen decided to start leagues in his own town, Marengo.
The first year, he had 10 teams for sand volleyball, with six players on a team.
The softball league started with six teams, 10 players to a team.
The first year of indoor volleyball, 10 teams signed up. This year 14 registered. The league plays at Iowa Valley High School Sundays from 5-8 p.m.
Vonlienen graduated from Iowa Valley. “I played all the sports.”
When he decided to start adult leaves in Marengo, he knew the community could support it because the town had volleyball and slow-pitch softball leagues before.
To reboot the leagues, Vonlienen made a lot of phone calls, especially for sand volleyball. The community donated nets, balls and boundaries, sand, excavation and lights.
Vonlienen created the Marengo Adult Sports Rec Leagues Facebook page to promote the leagues.
The softball league awards a traveling trophy to the winning team and payouts of $200-$500 to teams that finish first, second and third, depending on how much money is available from entry frees.
Teams play at Lions Park. Balls are donated. Teams provide other equipment.
Softball sign-up will begin in March or April. The league begins play the end of May or the beginning of June and will play on Sundays throughout the summer.
Sand volleyball signups will begin about the same time.
People come from as far as North Liberty, Solon, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City to join the leagues, said Vonlienen. Friends of friends of friends hear about the leagues and join them.
The only qualification is that people be 18 or older and out of high school. Actually, 17-year-olds can play if they are out of high school, Vonlienen said.
Slow pitch softball attracts mostly people in their 20s, said Vonlienen. The oldest players are in their 40s or early 50s.
Volleyball is a mix, with players from 18-65.
Vonlienen has help managing the leagues, and Tiffany Shine handles much of the social media for the leagues.
“I’m not done with sports,” Vonlienen said. He plans to add a bags, or cornhole, league for winter. “I used to do the July 4th bags tournament,” he said.
Vonlienen contacted the American Legion to see if he can use the new Legion Hall for the league.
Vonlienen also wants to start a 3-on-3, half-court basketball league. He’s trying to find a time that the high school gym would be available.
“We can handle a lot more teams,” Vonlienen said.
Anyone interested in joining any of the leagues should contact Vonlienen at vonlienen@yahoo.com or message him on the Marengo Adult Sports Rec Leagues Facebook page.
