Edward Waters University assistant coach will mentor athletes for U.S. Olympic trials

Athletes from historically Black colleges and universities won’t be the only people making an impact in the U.S. Olympic trials. Marla Lindsay, an assistant track and field coach at Edward Waters University in Florida, will serve as a coach and mentor during the trials, which start Friday in Eugene, Oregon.

Lindsay is a recipient of the USA Track & Field National Championship Mentorship Grant, which allows her to be a coach for the Olympic trials taking place at the University of Oregon through June 30. It’s the second time she has received the grant. She also a mentor at the 2022 USATF Outdoor Nationals.

The assistant coach from the Division II HBCU will mentor athletes competing in the multi-event sports pentathlon, heptathlon and decathlon. Lindsay won’t physically be in Oregon for the Olympic trials. She will work as a mentor virtually.

“She’s studying with many of the best coaches in the U.S. So I think she’s going to take this as another challenge, that she’s going to go ahead and she’s going to be successful no matter what,” Marquita Mines, Edward Waters’ head track and field coach, said. “She’s going to give those athletes her full attention and all the tools they need to be successful to represent the United States at the highest level at the Olympics.”

Mines and Lindsay were USA Track & Field members and regional representatives. The two further built a relationship when they were in the Division III Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Mines was an assistant coach at Roanoke College and Lindsay was an assistant coach at Hollins University.

When Mines accepted the coaching position at Edward Waters in 2022, Lindsay was her first hire.

“When it comes to community engagement she’s excellent. I don’t think she ever met a stranger,” Mines said. “She would meet somebody and generally just pick up a conversation. The students love her. She’s like a mentor for them. So she brings that aspect to the team, and it’s one thing I cherish about her.”

Andscape spoke with Lindsay about mentoring athletes and finding success.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Edward Waters is the first HBCU you’ve coached at professionally. How has the experience been for you? 

My husband’s an Aggie (North Carolina A&T alum). I love being at an HBCU. And I do feel it’s somewhat remiss that I did not choose to pursue my college career [at an] HBCU, but I’m not going to say I didn’t enjoy my time and my experiences at work at Western Carolina that did build me.

I love seeing the Greek sororities on the yard. I always tell [student-athletes] don’t lose sight of what you’re doing. I say that because that’s something that a lot of people do not have. You’re at an HBCU culturally and [historically] that is absolutely astounding. Just to see how they walk around campus, see how our staff are walking on campus and just me wearing my polo that has Edward Waters on it and going to Morehouse or going anywhere and they know that I’m going to an HBCU. And I’m telling them we are the first Black HBCU in Florida. 

What was the grant application process like for you?

Now it’s a lot more structured, and that’s something that everybody at USATF was trying to make it easier. So there’s more young ladies and more young men that want to have these opportunities, and those opportunities are there for you but they’re not easy to get. Because it still is a very inclusive society where they don’t let everybody in. So that’s something that we’re working on is filling that resource. I’m an official as well. [I] really started learning about my sport more because of that, and it opened those doors as well by just meeting people. …

So by putting myself in the right place at the right time, and then I decided not to be quiet, that’s how I was able to say, ‘You know what? I’m not afraid anymore.’ If I want something, [I] go get it and ask the questions.

As a mentor at the Olympic trials, what are your daily duties?

I can analyze and break down a handle or break down their posture and foot placement, and they see it and I can actually speak to them in vernacular that is easy for them. That’s what these grants have done for me. They open up something for you. Some people may have just gone, but I actually go to learn. I’ll be doing videos and making sure I’m analyzing and [giving] feedback to them. So I’m not gonna be there, but I’m there. … Sometimes you really can’t do much anyway, especially not at the trials. … The last time it was like, ‘We already gave you everything. Now you just have to apply what we gave you.’

How is it coaching the pentathlon, heptathlon and decathlon?

I’m always coachable, but I tend to catch onto things. The heptathlon has basically all the events that I already know how to do minus, you know, the hammer throw. The hammer throw, it’s not what I do, but I love it because it’s a game of numbers and the way you train the athlete is different. … Whenever I take on a ministry, I give them the tools for success and the resources. … When it gets down to athletes, those first two days they already know we have a tradition that we have to do in the beginning, and then we execute from there. I ask [the athletes] each and every time, ‘What do you expect to achieve from the start?’ And then tell them, ‘I’m holding you to it.’ Then I record everything, and we talk about it later.

What have you learned being a coach within U.S. Track & Field?

I tell everybody you can open up your mouth and say, ‘help me.’ I am quick to ring up a phone and call people who I know are old mentees of mine or just people that I’ve met in passing. I’ll just say, ‘OK, I need help.’ … I aspire to be like a bridge that helps athletes. I tell my stories and show them how I learn.