Wildcats improved every year during her tenure
Dear Northern Michigan,
Since the final time our team broke a huddle, I’ve been trying to think of the perfect way to explain the joy I’ve experienced at the helm of this program. But every time I settle on what I want to say, another memory pops up, and then the train comes off the tracks, and I’m reminiscing instead of writing this.
What a joy it has been.
Origami hearts. Deep breaths on away game fields. Hotel meeting room graduations. Morning practice sunrises. Noque nymphs. Carrying bridges. ‘Cats Connect activities. Thanksgiving. Color team challenges. Road trip mayhem. Family tailgates. Ice cream with sprinkles. Crying at senior banquets. Murder mysteries in the Traverse City yurts. Trading places with NMU Theater. The second locker room huddles before home games. Saturday practices at the GLIAC tournament.
All of it, joy.
The ten-ish minutes every day before we start film, where everyone would chatter to each other. Being wholly themselves, telling stories, and laughing. I wish I could stay with you all in that space forever. In the world’s largest wooden dome.
Ends are hard.
How do you sum up seven years of life and love? How do you explain how much something meant?
Maybe just with a thank you. A thank you to the people who made working for Northern Michigan University special.
To my husband, with whom I got to build a program in tandem. To the best staff a coach could ask for. To the admin who supported my athletes on the front lines and behind the scenes. To the folks who hung the nets and lined the fields and did the little things to make my team feel important. To the top media crew in the country. To the people across campus who helped me create unique opportunities that could only happen here, and who made my athletes succeed beyond the field.
Thank you to the Marquette community. Your curiosity for this unfamiliar sport has been a gift. The way people care about Northern Michigan University athletics and support athletes in this town is a wonder to experience. You’ve made a team of athletes and coaches, all from far, far away, feel at home.
Thank you to the families of our team. The way you have shown up in the biggest moments has been incredible to watch. Striped overalls, grills, balloon arches, and so much love. Thank you for sharing your daughters. There is no ‘nmuwlax’ without you.
Finally, to my athletes: thank you for changing my life in a thousand ways a thousand different times. For the joy, the tears, the laughs, and the authenticity. For every memory, and never being too cool to care. You are all an inspiration, and being your coach was the privilege of a lifetime.
I will miss the snow, the water, and the trees. But most of all the people.
Northern Michigan might not be perfect for everyone, but it was for me.
Lindsey LeMay Majkrzak
