2024 Marlon Johnson Award of Excellence Recipient
2024 winner Jackie Richter presented by Adam Beamer
The following speech was made by 2023 Marlon Johnson Award winner, Lisa Slinde as she announced the 2024 Marlon Award of Excellence for a Coach.
As I prepared to write this speech tonight, I went back and reviewed Beth and Crystal’s presentations and was reminded of the characteristics that made Marlon a Coach worthy of an award named after him. These characteristics are Passion, Tenacity and Integrity.
This is my 11th year coaching at Northern Lights, and I am truly blessed to be surrounded by so many fantastic players and elite coaches that I learn from every time I am in the gym. But my journey at Northern lights started in 2010 when my 2 daughters made the club. Erin, my oldest daughter, played for Marlon her 14’s year, and Erica played for Marlon on 16-Black. As I watched Marlon coach their teams, he took the time to get to know every girl on the team.
He wasn’t afraid to point out things that they were doing wrong but was the first to celebrate something they did right. He was loud, he was active and always talking or shouting or cheering. He was their coach but also their biggest fan. He wanted them to succeed more than anyone else in the gym. He also took the time to get to know the parents of his players. He asked us questions about our families. He was approachable and just a fun person to be around, and we knew he truly cared about our kids. I was lucky enough to coach alongside him when I coached 14 White one year. He was the coach that was always active in every drill. When someone made a great dig 2 courts over, you knew it because Marlon was cheering for them in practice. He was never the coach standing on the concrete talking to another coach, he was actively out there coaching and cheering and yelling on every contact.
This is the coach I strive to be every season. I care about all the players in our gym, I love to see them try and fail and then succeed in the end and then push to get even better. I talk to parents and get to know them. Who knows, one day they could do your bi-lateral knee replacement (it happened). Marlon was legendary and I am honored to present this award in his name tonight.
The winner of the award this year is also a legend in their own special way. Every year coaches are asked to list who we would like to coach with, and this person is on multiple coaches’ wish lists. During the season, I had the opportunity to sub for a coach on this person’s team. I gained more coaching knowledge on how to handle my team, do better drills to get the results I was looking for in skills for my own team and how to set higher expectations for myself and my team – all of that in 2 hours. Although I was helping another coach out that needed a sub, it helped me be a better coach.
This coach is someone that other coaches look to for advice on a difficult problem, ideas on drills, how to handle an uncomfortable situation, literally the worst scenarios because she would know exactly how to handle it or be a supportive person to talk through how to handle it best and not judge you. I have had the opportunity to coach this person’s daughter for one year. I was so appreciative of the support she gave me during that season. Now is where it is going to be fairly easy to figure this person out if you haven’t already.
She has coached at Northern Lights for years, has won multiple AAU National Championships, won National Qualifiers including Colorado Crossroads and the Northern Lights Qualifier. She has also won an international tournament with an 18-2’s team, multiple runner up and 3rd place finishes in AAU’s and USJO’s. I have also had the opportunity to coach under her in her high school program where she has won a state high school championship, has been named the MN State Volleyball Coach of the year, along with multiple section coach of the year honors as well.
I am so honored to present this award to my mentor and friend Jackie Richter.