Local basketball lovers find Parking Lot League a much-needed distraction
By Mike Ramczyk
Correspondent
What started as a joke between friends has become a full-blown phenomenon.
The Parking Lot League, ripe with loud, banging hip-hop, fans on lawn chairs and cars lined up around the court, is enjoying a busy summer.
Each Wednesday and sometimes on Sundays, alumni from Burlington High School and some from Waterford High School – as many as 50 – show up for a unique experience, where the basketball hoop is only 9-feet tall, point guards can dunk and a posterized slam may wind up on Instagram.
The Parking Lot League, or PLL, keeps getting bigger on social media, as Burlington High School all-time leading scorer Nick Klug, who started the league in 2016 with Luke Geiger, takes videos during games and posts the best ones online.
What started as a fun way to play pick-up games in the summer has turned into a weekly league, with 3-on-3 teams and “merch” – PLL T-shirts and hoodies.
One minute, you may see Klug, who plays for Division 2 Winona State, jam over someone, and the next may display current BHS star senior Joey Berezowitz calling “game” before swishing a sweet 30-footer.
BHS players from as long as 10 years ago show up, and a handful of Waterford high school players and alumni make the trip to St. John’s Lutheran Church, 198 Westridge Ave., Burlington.
Future plans
It’s becoming a unifying, rallying place for basketball lovers, as most gyms across the region and state are closed due to COVID-19.
“Me and Nick Klug started it my junior year of high school in his basement kind of as a joke to have pick-up games at St. Johns as well as just to post funny stuff,” said Geiger, a BHS grad who plays for UW-Stout. “It seemed that right away, people loved it and it started to become pretty big throughout the high school. It’s been going on four years now, and it’s just awesome to see how big it has gotten. We have gotten to the point where we have made player edition sweatshirts (with) long sleeves.”
For Klug, who lives a few blocks from the courts, Parking Lot League was the obvious name choice considering they were playing in a parking lot.
People bring their own 3-on-3 teams, which rotate onto the one court where games are played.
Players eager to get in the action are chilling on lawn chairs in the parking lot.
Klug says every game is recorded so guys can post “cool plays and highlights” on social media.
Last Wednesday, a group of roughly 30 gathered to play. Not one person wore a mask, however, they’ve never had to stop play because everyone has stayed healthy.
Proceeding with caution
“Early on this summer, there has been some coronavirus issues and we did not know if it was going to be a good idea to play weekly,” Klug said. “But then things like gyms and other places started opening up so we thought it would be OK to get back on track with our games.”
Several players drive from Waterford, including Mike Schimelfenyg, Collin Chart, Zach Stiewe and Matt Korman.
Schimelfenyg is just happy to do what he loves.
“It’s a lot of fun to just be able to play hoops somewhere right now because it’s tough to find an actual gym to play in,” he said. “I’ve also been close to Nick and a lot of the other Burlington guys since high school, so it’s dope to be able to hang with those guys and just play.”
So why do people drive from as far as 30 minutes away to play?
“I think people from all over travel to PLL because of how fun it is and competitive,” Klug said. “It’s always a good time to hang with your friends and play some basketball before people leave for college or go back to school. We have had countless people contact us wanting to play – from Waterford, all the way to Appleton and Madison.”
In particular, Klug likes the age range as guys in their late 20s show up as well as high school kids.
The league is built on mutual respect.
“It’s so cool to see the age range that PLL has,” Klug said. “And the best part about it is, that no matter how old you are, everyone respects everybody and has a good time, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”
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