From the booming voice of Hall of Famer, Butch Baer, announcing starting lineups at Boy’s State Baseball to 2023 State Champion Abby Tollefson’s near perfect dives, Marshalltown has been the place where championship dreams become realities.

Recently, Marshalltown was informed that after 20+ years of hosting the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s Swimming and Diving Championships, we lost the event to Iowa City. It felt a little bit like getting dumped by your high school sweetheart. Just like 2015, when the Iowa High School Athletic Association moved Swimming & Diving Championships to Iowa City. Or when we lost State Baseball to Des Moines. It just hurts.

We can respond to these losses in a couple of ways. We can look in the rear-view mirror and wish for the days of yore. Or, in the words of Ross Geller, we can “pivot”.

Eric Reis, in his book “The Lean Startup,” defines pivoting “a change of strategy without a change in vision.”

Marshalltown isn’t the place where champions are crowned because the IAHSAA and IGSHAU awarded various State Championships to Marshalltown. It is because Marshalltown has always had the vision of being the place where champions are crowned.

What makes Marshalltown a great place to host is more than being “centrally located along Highway 30.” Our native language is collaboration. We collaborate across the city, school district, civic, facilities, corporate organizations and citizens to ensure a great environment for competitors and spectators alike. This results in investing in some of the finest athletic facilities in Iowa. We have an unmatched community of volunteers committed to carrying out events. Along with the hometown feel that turns “an event” into “THE Event”.

With the loss of IGHSAU Swimming and Diving Championships, Marshalltown is pivoting to our next season of hosting championships. Through the rest of 2025, Marshalltown will host at least 10 statewide events with championships at stake.

I want to highlight 3 of those events:

State of Iowa Special Olympics Swimming on March 29th. Iowa’s favorite athletes will be competing at the Linda Bloom Natatorium at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA. The YMCA-YWCA staff and Marshalltown swimming community are unmatched in putting on exceptional events, and we are excited for this new opportunity!

Iowa High School Esports Association State Showdowns will continue on Feb. 26-28, May 19-21, and November 2025. In the second year of this event, Marshalltown has solidified itself as the Mecca of Mario in Iowa. With strong collaboration between the IAHSEA, Mechdyne, Marshalltown Community School District, Marshalltown Community College, Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce and local sponsors, this event continues to grow.

In September of 2025, the 52nd Marshalltown Bobcat Invitational will be the biggest cross-country event at the best course in Iowa. Over 2,000 runners (bigger than the state meet) from some of the best programs in the state consistently circle this on the calendar.

Over time, the competitions may change, but Marshalltown will always be the place where championship dreams become realities.

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Dylan Does is the tourism director at the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce.