Otsego County Sportsplex expands to provide athletic opportunities for every age group

GAYLORD — On any day everyone from toddlers to senior citizens can be found at the Otsego County Sportsplex engaging in some sort of physical activity.

Not bad for a building that started out about 25 years ago as just an ice rink so youth hockey players had a facility for their games and practices.

James Vanderveer, the executive director of the Sportsplex, said the idea for the facility occurred when parents decided that their hockey-playing children needed an indoor rink.

"They wanted a place for their kids to play hockey and at that time there was no rink in the area," said Vanderveer. "The parents proposed a millage to build a rink and got it approved."

Currently, taxpayers pay 0.25 of a mill in property taxes to fund the Sportsplex. Vanderveer said grants, donations and revenue from fees for reserving ice time, advertising and room rentals keep it operating. In 2021, the Sportsplex brought in a little over $1 million in revenue and had expenses of $895,782.

Vanderveer said, including himself, the facility has five full-time employees and anywhere from 35 to 50 part-timers.

County residents pay less to use the facility.

"If someone comes from Grayling and wants to use the hockey rink it will cost them more than an Otsego County resident," Vanderveer said.

In addition to indoor pools and the rink, the Sportsplex has an outdoor activity center called the Energy Outlet. It's a big playground for community use as there are four tennis courts and three pickleball courts.

Currently Vanderveeer is seeking grant money to expand the pickleball offerings, especially indoors where there is only one court.

"Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America right now," he said.

The Sportsplex's fitness activities include spinning, indoor and outdoor walking tracks, karate and yoga. The walking club has walked a total of 154,191 miles so far this year.

One of the most unique offerings the Sportsplex has is a summer camp for over 100 children ranging in age from six to 12 years old with activities five days a week in a safe and supervised manner. Essentially, the summer camp serves as a form of daycare for parents as school is not in session from the middle of June until the end of August.

"We had a limit of 100 kids for many years," Vanderveer said. "Treetops had a summer camp that closed several years ago and when they closed that had a ripple effect for us. Last year we had a waiting list for kids.

"We worked with the state to get us from 100 kids to 150," he added. "I think we will have 150 next year."

The Sportsplex offers adults almost as many activity options as it does children. The Alpine Regional Tennis Association works with over 100 participants and offers leagues for men and women. There is an adult hockey league with four teams competing.

Hockey remains a focal point as the Gaylord High School team and a semi-professional team called the Gaylord Snow use the ice rink.

"We have open skating every Wednesday and we have business-sponsored skating where kids come and skate for free. We also offer time set aside for figure skating that draws skaters from all over," Vanderveer said.

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Last summer, Vanderveer brought back the Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament in which 121 teams and 483 players participated. The weekend event was a big success and helped to boost the local economy as over 1,500 people attended the competition.

Next summer, Vanderveer said the Sportsplex plans to offer curling.

— Contact reporter Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Otsego County Sportsplex expands to provide athletic opportunities for every age group