Longtime staffer named new Ligonier Valley YMCA CEO

New Ligonier Valley YMCA CEO Mike Marinchak has been associated with the organization for more than three decades.

“The YMCA has made a tremendous impact on my family and is one of the many reasons I make Ligonier my home,” said Marinchak. “I want to make certain the opportunities provided by the Ligonier Valley YMCA are realized by the community and remain available for generations to come.”

Marinchak started as an intern at the Y more than 30 years ago. He initially worked as a youth director and has spent most of his tenure as the program director. He’s been interim CEO since November.

He succeeds Larry Stormer, who was CEO for nearly a decade before leaving to take on the role of president of the Children’s Aid Society Foundation in Somerset. Over a 27-year career with the Y, Stormer also worked at locations in Greensburg, Plum and Erie.

A graduate of neighboring Derry Area School District, Marinchak moved to the Ligonier community where his wife, the former Trudy Berger, grew up. Marinchak noted his three children have been active at the Y.

Oldest son Michael, a senior at Seton Hill University, contributed as a pitcher to the Griffins’ PSAC Championship over West Chester University last May. His younger siblings play basketball, Matthew as a sophomore at Pitt-Greensburg and Madison as a senior at Ligonier Valley High School — though she has been sidelined by an injury.

All three of Marinchak’s children coach youth basketball programs at the Y. Michael and Matthew also help with the Y’s child care program.

The elder Michael Marinchak provided key input when the Y added 32,000 square feet to its Church Street building, beginning in 2015. Included in the newer area are a fitness center, a gymnasium and medical facilities that are part of the Independence Health system.

Marinchak and some Y board members successfully proposed adding fitness and weight equipment, including kettlebells, to a corridor in the new addition. “In the fitness center, there was no place where you could put down a mat and stretch,” he said. “It was a good addition to something that was already happening.”

Under Marinchak’s leadership, the Y is planning for renovations in the older section of its building, including to the child care and development area.

The project is nearing the end of the design phase, but the final scope remains to be determined, Marinchak said.

He said proposals call for concentrating all child care programs on the upper floor, with a designated secure entrance, stairwell and elevator providing access only to staff, enrolled children and their parents.

At the same time, he said, the Y hopes to free up other portions of the building for use by its members, after scaling back in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic.

Shifting of the child care areas should allow the Y to open a third pickleball court, Marinchak said.

“We’ve got 30 to 40 people per day coming in to play pickleball,” he said. “We have a nice group of people. We started with 14 people playing in 2016, and now we’re up to about 147.”

The renovation also could include updating the sauna and locker rooms as well as the facade of the older portion of the building.

At the same time, he said, “We don’t want to take away from the history of the building.”

The building once served as the town’s high school.

Work on renovations could begin by mid-summer, Marinchak said.

For now, Marinchak, who holds a degree in physical education and sports management from Slippery Rock University, is continuing as program director at the Y. As Y officials look to hire a new program leader, they may separate oversight of the fitness center as a second position, he said.

YMCA board President Lindsey Singer said Marinchak has a strong rapport with other staff members and is well-versed in the board’s long-range plans.

“He is an organized leader, solid communicator and well-respected member of the community,” said Singer. “From the board’s perspective, he met every requirement.”