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Lindsey (LeMay) Majkrzak

Women's Lacrosse Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

National Girls & Women in Sports Day: Lindsey (LeMay) Majkrzak

National Girls & Women in Sports Day is celebrated annually on the first Wednesday of February. This day is dedicated to recognizing female athletic achievements and promoting opportunities for girls in sports.

Today, the NMU Athletics Department is celebrating girls and women, both past and present, to honor the achievements of women in sports, acknowledge the impact of sports participation, and advocate for equality and inclusion for girls in athletics.

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- "There was never going to be another path."

Lindsey (LeMay) Majkrzak was raised by a Marine who played rugby at the Naval Academy. She says her first 'punishments' as a child were "pushups and chasing my brother around the block until I got tired."

"That created a joy in movement and competition that has never left me."

Lindsey was raised in a college town in Oregon, where she was fortunate enough to watch women's college athletics from a young age.

"I remember wanting desperately to grow up to be an Oregon State women's basketball or soccer player. To be one of these tall, strong women who got to compete in these stadiums that seemed so big at the time. I went to youth camps for each program every year and remembered how kind and patient the college athletes were with young athletes, and that was always something I wanted to emulate."

Lindsey participated in three sports in high school: lacrosse, soccer, and cross country. After being a four-year letterwinner in lacrosse, earning two letters in soccer, and a letter in cross country, Lindsey would go on to compete at the collegiate level, where she played Division I women's lacrosse for the University of Oregon, and earned an English Literature degree from Oregon State. 

"Athletics gave me, and I believe gives all women, the space to fail and fail and fail again while continuing to try as hard as you can. To be loud and commanding and strong in stressful situations, to be uncomfortable and have to deal with it physically, mentally, and sometimes socially."  

After four seasons coaching at Corvallis High School and a stop at Wartburg College, Lindsey was announced as the second head coach in program history for the Wildcats, and will embark on her seventh season as the leader of the program. Lindsey would like to thank the previous Athletic Director, Forest Karr, for "taking a chance on an underqualified 24-year-old with a dream."

An outcome that she said changed her life.

"I'm fortunate enough to live a life uniquely immersed in sport: my career, my most important relationships, every passion, and every challenge in my adult life. All of it has come from athletics. Even growing up, I don't remember a time in my life when I wasn't surrounded by sports. It shaped me–both in the highs and lows–into the person that I am today."

"In a world that can put the weight of perfection so firmly on the shoulders of young women, sport is a messy escape where you learn that trying is always cool and the highs and lows, however extreme, give you empathy and the problem-solving skills to attack any problem for the rest of your life."

Now, Lindsey believes that the 'highs and lows' her student-athletes may experience are extremely valuable, and that sport will teach them lessons that will help shape who they are as people, all while continuing to be a role model for the future generations of women in sports.

"As a coach, being a role model for young athletes looks a little different than it did as an athlete. I can't be out there with them every day working as a peer. Instead, I try to live the values I teach in my program and be an example of the healthy human I want them all to grow to be, which is often easier said than done, but it's the hope in the trying that seems to make the most impact." 

On National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Lindsey says that "there is no greater honor" than to represent her team and her sport, and that her career in coaching has brought her joy in being able to watch dozens of women make the transition from childhood to adulthood in their own way.

"Seeing confidence flourish, friendships start and thrive, and teams overcome hardships on and off the field. I've gotten to witness lifelong bonds form and wounds open, then heal. Winning in shining moments and losing in heartbreak. Every person who has passed through this team has an impact on both me and the program, and leaves a piece of themselves behind when they leave." 

"Women's sports are a place like no other," a place where Lindsey says that some of the most impactful people she has ever met have found a way to make a lasting impact on her life. Impacts that she will be forever grateful for.

"The women I've been lucky enough to coach have been the most caring, authentic, hardworking humans that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and going to battle with. I've seen many of their highest highs and lowest lows, and many of them have seen mine as well. And we all keep showing up. For each other and for ourselves. This profession and the people it brought into my life through this program have tested me, changed me for the better, and saved my life more than once." 

"There is no greater privilege than to be a coach in women's sports." 



 
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