WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Acadia women's basketball head coach Len Harvey announced today the addition of Marissa Lindquist to the Axewomen coaching staff.
Lindquist leaves her assistant position with the Lakeland College Rustlers of the ACAC conference to join the Axewomen in August.
"Marissa brings a lot of experience to the team and I'm really excited about her moving across the country to join us here. She has been a great contributor to the Lakeland program for a number of years now and came highly recommended by Chris (Lakeland Head Coach – Chris King). Marissa is a really hard worker, and has a real passion for the sport, as well as coaching", said Axewomen head coach Len Harvey.
A graduate of Lakeland College, Lindquist played two seasons with the Rustlers and immediately became immersed in Saskatchewan women's basketball as a coach.
After leaving Lakeland as a player, Lindquist was immediately attracted to coaching.
"I just wanted to give back to the game that taught me so much and being that female role model. Growing up, I had a mix of male and female head coaches, but typically found that as I got older and at the higher levels, there were more males than females coaching. I think it is great for women's teams to have a female on the coaching staff and am excited to join the Axewomen," said Lindquist.
"Marissa is a bright coach, with a solid mind for the game in terms of strategies and tactics, but also has a lot of experience with player development. She spent a lot of time working with youth basketball in her community back in Saskatchewan, as well as being involved with their provincial programming so I know she's going to be a great contributor to our community here in the Valley. She's going to be a very valuable addition to our team, and we're excited to welcome her to Acadia," said Harvey.
Head coach in the Saskatoon Minor Basketball Association, Lindquist volunteered as a coach in the Saskatoon Slam Basketball Club and at Evan Hardy Collegiate before moving on as an assistant coach with Basketball Saskatchewan under head coach Adam Kowaluk and with the Rustlers in 2017 to present.
While in Lloydminster, Sask. from 2017 and onward, Lindquist was the lead coach with the Rustlers' Youth Basketball program and also was a coach with the Hoop Factory.
As an assistant with the Lakeland, she helped guide the Rustlers to an ACAC semi-final appearance in 2018, a bronze medal win in 2019 and an ACAC Championship in 2020.
When asked why she saw Acadia as an opportunity, she reflected on the idea of moving to the next level. "I have always wanted to try coaching at the USPORTS level. I think this past year with the pandemic, it really showed me how quickly opportunities come and go so I should just put my name out there and apply because you never know when an opportunity will come around again."
"Being from Saskatchewan and having only coached in Western Canada, I thought going to Acadia would be a great opportunity for me to continue my coaching career, learn under a new coach in Len and experience basketball and the culture in a different part of Canada," added Lindquist.
During COVID-19, the Axewomen played four exhibition games during the months of February and March against AUS opponent Dalhousie and Saint Mary's along with ACAA's Mount Saint Vincent under guidelines of the Nova Scotia Health Authority. The Atlantic University Sport Conference has not released the 2021-22 Winter Schedules.