Role models
Lindquist, Harris continuing to learn as assistant coaches with Acadia Axewomen
Lindsay Harris and Marissa Lindquist have found a way to stay involved in a game they love deeply.
Both are first-year assistant coaches with the Acadia Axewomen basketball team.
Harris, a 30-year-old Wolfville native, played for the Axewomen from 2009 to 2013 and was a key part of the team that won an Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championship in Antigonish in 2012.
“It’s great to stay involved after you’re done playing because it brings that fun, competitive side out of me,” she said.
Lindquist, 29, grew up in Saskatchewan and, after high school, played a couple years with the Lakeland College Rustlers in Lloydminster, which is on the Saskatchewan-Alberta border.
“I have fallen into love with coaching,” Lindquist said. “I think I always knew come high school that when I finished playing, I was going to start coaching.”
Lindquist, a registered dietitian, served as an assistant with the Rustlers from 2017 until 2021 and held a number of other basketballrelated positions.
“I had a really great experience ... where I was coaching before,” she said. “I was coaching with the coach who I had played for.”
When Acadia advertised for a full-time assistant coach, Lindquist applied and was the successful candidate.
“I knew I wanted to coach but knew I had to take the very big step out of my comfort zone and try something new,” she said. “To be able to help and give back and see people grow and learn is just a great reason to stay involved for me.”
When Axewomen head coach Len Harvey heard Harris had moved back to the
area, he reached out to see if she was interested in joining the staff. He was coaching at Cape Breton University when Harris was playing for Bev Greenlaw at Acadia.
“Of course, I wanted to get involved as much as I could,” said Harris, who works for Nova Scotia Health in the Annapolis Valley. “I’ve always
been an avid watcher of the team and following along with their season.”
Harvey said Harris and Lindquist have brought a lot to the team in their first season on the bench.
“They’re such a fantastic addition for our program,” he said. “They’ve been awesome.”
Both assistants said they are enjoying their first season.
“Being able to coach alongside Len and learn from him has been an amazing opportunity for me and to see a different side of the game,” said Harris. “It’s just really fun to be part of this group of girls.”
Currently, there are no female head coaches among the eight AUS women’s basketball teams, but Harvey sees that changing in the future. “It’s going to tip,” he said. He said the Axewomen wanted to make a concerted effort to give opportunities to deserving female candidates when it was looking for additions to its staff.
“These guys have street cred on their own,” he said of the recent additions. “We want our players to see that, and I think a lot of our athletes are going to be really, really great coaches . ... They can look at Marissa or Lindsay and I think they see themselves.”
Harris played one season for Carly Clarke at Ryerson University and said, “having some of those female leaders and role models to look up to is great.”
Now she is one of them. Jayda Veinot, a veteran on the Axewomen team, played for Harris while at Horton High School.
“I came through the local basketball community with Lindsay as a role model,” she said. “It means so much to have her (here) and then Marissa stepped in and she’s been incredible.
“It’s awesome to have those role models and to have just smart basketball women in our locker room.”
Another Axewomen alumni, Haley McDonald, is now coaching the Horton girls’ team.