The City of Bellingham offers seven Adult Sports Leagues annually. Providing community members with opportunities to stay active and connect. Leagues include indoor volleyball, sand volleyball, basketball, softball, badminton, kickball and roundnet. Fees vary by sport.
Patrick Ulinski is the athletic coordinator for Bellingham Parks and Recreation.
“My job is to make sure people in our community get to take part in a sport that they love as an adult,” Ulinski said. “We don’t just lose our love for those sports once we get out of high school or college.”
Former college athlete Peircen Parish found a way to keep her love for volleyball alive through Bellingham’s indoor league.
“I missed playing the sport,” Parish said. “I found the City of Bellingham and it has been great, I actually play four nights a week.”
Parish credited the league as being key to making new friends.
“I’ve met so many people here. I feel like it’s hard to make friends as an adult. Getting to come to an environment like this where you have a common interest allows you to meet people,” Parish said. “I’ve met some great lifelong friends by playing through the city.”
Ulinski emphasized the value of shared interests when making friends.
“If you’re really into volleyball and move into this area, one of the first things they’ll do is look for a local league,” Ulinksi said.
Beyond building community, the Adult Sports Leagues have cultivated a positive culture where adults can enjoy playing sports.
“Everyone has a good attitude, especially because we are all adults trying to make time in our life for something we enjoy,” Parish said. “People come here with a passion of wanting to play, it’s a really good energy.”
The league separates players into divisions based on skill level to ensure an even playing field.
“We do our best to make sure people are playing at similar skill levels as other people,” Ulinski said.
Griffin Geyer, a player for Mud, Western Washington University’s ultimate frisbee team, highlighted the importance of agreeing on the level of competition you are competing at.
“We have fun, and that doesn’t make us any better or worse than Dirt (Western’s A-team) no matter how many times we like to think so,” Geyer said. “They [Dirt] all have an agreement on how competitive they are going to be.”
Western’s ultimate frisbee athletes have experienced similar positives to the adults playing in the City of Bellingham’s leagues.
“I’ve made many friends through ultimate at Western,” said Jesse Paull, a player for Mud.
When joining a league, you can expect to see people of all ages. The majority of players are in their late 20s or 30s with some older players as well, Ulinksi said.
“People are generally 16 to 67 or 68. I’ve seen people who are getting up there in age that are still playing in our leagues,” Ulinski said.
Those interested in joining a team sports league can sign up with a full team or as a pickup player, where you’ll be waitlisted and added to a team as needed. Team captains are responsible for paying a fee, which can range from $250 to $700, depending on the sport and size of the team.
For individual sports like badminton, participants sign up and pay the fee themselves, which costs around $60.
Tyler Noonan (he/him) is a senior at Western and a sports reporter for The Front. He is a marketing major and a public relations minor. Outside of school he enjoys fitness and working on creative projects. You can reach him at tylernoonan.thefront@gmail.com
