Sitting pretty: Tinker civilian wins silver for Team USA

Published Sept. 3, 2015
By John Parker
Staff Writer

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Six years ago, J. Dee Marinko had a lot of new things in his life.

He was in his second year of marriage to his wife Courtney. He was six months into fatherhood with son Kash.

Then after a trip to the doctor for foot pain, an MRI detected a mass in the middle of his left foot. Soon after, a biopsy opened a new chapter for Marinko out of the blue. The tumor was rare synovial sarcoma cancer.

An oncologist spelled out the options to treat the aggressive cancer. Marinko sums it up these days as "a limb or your life?" Not much of a choice.

Surgeons removed part of his left leg about 7 inches below the knee, considered a better spot for walking again with a prosthesis.

"It was the best decision I ever made, looking back at it, because not only am I here, but I have another son who's 4 years old," Marinko said. "I get to represent the United States of America all around the world in an athletic endeavor that I never thought I'd ever be able to do.

"There are not very many people in the United States who get to say they're a Paralympic athlete, and I do. I'm very lucky and very blessed for that."

Today, Marinko is a five-year veteran of the Team USA sitting volleyball squad. The team earned a silver medal last month at the international Parapan American Games in Toronto, which hosted over 1,500 athletes. Marinko also brought home silver at the 2011 Parapan American Games.

The finish qualified the team for the worldwide 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The U.S. team's last Paralympics appearance was more than a decade ago.

Marinko said adjusting to his prosthetic leg was "mentally tough," lasting about a year. But the 34-year-old forward logistics specialist with the 565th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron finally realized that his new limitations were small.

"After dealing with that, it got easier because there wasn't anything I couldn't do," he said. "Once I figured that out, I was like, hey, I want to get back after it."

A former wide receiver at Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Marinko discovered a chance to get back into sports only a block from his Edmond home at the time. Edmond's University of Central Oklahoma is home to the U.S. Olympic/Paralympic Training Site for sitting volleyball.

At 6 feet 4 inches tall and athletic, Marinko was told he'd be a good candidate to make the team. Some players work for a year or more to try to win a jersey. With intense practice and workouts nearly every day at the site, Marinko made it in four months.
"A lot of hard work paid off," he said.

Assistant coach Greg Walker describes Marinko as a selfless player, a "servant leader" and an "incredible friend, husband and father."

"Each member of our program has sacrificed a lot to get to where we are now, and I know J. Dee would want to give the credit to his teammates and coaches," Walker said. "However, he is a crucial contributor to the success of our program and why we will be a contender in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio."

Sitting volleyball is similar to standing volleyball, but with a smaller 20-by-33-foot court. The net is about 3 1/2 feet high. Amputee players, six to a side, must keep at least one "cheek" on the floor when contacting the ball.

They can also block serves to score a point, which is not allowed in the standing version. Setting, spiking, digging and passing are the same.

Marinko said maneuvering with hands and legs, without the prosthesis, is the key to sitting volleyball.

"The hardest part is learning how to move because you can pass the best, and hit the best and all that, but if you can't actually move to the ball, you're never going to be any good," he said.

All that sit-down maneuvering leads to calluses on the hands and a sore butt, he said, especially in the startup week after a training break.

"You can't just open the door and plop down in your car," Marinko said. "You do that and you're screaming. The guys at work can tell when we have time off from practice. I go to work and sit down really slow."

Five-days-a-week training in Edmond includes drills, yoga and strength training. The matches themselves are fast-paced.

"It's the most physically demanding sport that I've ever played in my life," Marinko said. "I use more muscles in my body on the sitting volleyball court to move that I ever did in football."

Marinko said his family gives him "amazing" support. His son Kash recently told him he wants to play like his dad - specifically in sitting volleyball. His son asked him, "So what part of my body do I need to get chopped off?"

"For him to say that, it was the sweetest thing, but then I just started laughing and went like, buddy, don't ever say that," Marinko said with a smile. "I don't want you to ever have to go through that."