Sports
Plainfield Resident 2x AAU National Coach of the Year Recipient
Meet the real Coach Nicole Lincoln, Plainfield's two-time AAU National Coach of the Year recipient
Plainfield, IL (August 7, 2021) - Local resident, founder and head coach of Rush Athletics USA - Team Illinois USA, Coach Nicole Lincoln is the recipient of the 2021 AAU National Coach of the Year for being one of the top leading AAU track and field coaches in the midst of a global pandemic and months of covid-related health regulations and mandates.
This is the second AAU National Coach of the Year Award for Lincoln, who earned the honor in 2018 and her club, Rush Athletics USA, earned Club of the Year. Now honored in her 30th season as a track and field coach, Lincoln has earned this merit once again.
“What a passionate heart Coach Lincoln has and she is so giving to her athletes,” stated one Rush Athletics USA parent, Amanda Fields. “This past pandemic was a true display of her creativity as she found and even made opportunities happen for her athletes to continue to train and develop. I am so grateful we found her and her organization several years ago. My daughter has benefited greatly under the guidance of Coach Lincoln. She is so deserving of this award.”
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The 2021 AAU National Coach of the Year Award recognizes the dedication, commitment, and hard work of AAU coaches who had successes during the pandemic and presented to coaches who help guide athletes to a higher level of performance and show outstanding service and dedication to the community. It honors the spirit of “sports for all, forever” AAU’s motto which sets the standard for loyalty, integrity, love of sports, passionate representation and tireless promotion of AAU sports and coaching.
“Coach Lincoln is a real top notch coach,” said Coach Gerald Houston Jr., founder of Fortitude Coaching LLC. “She embodies a high level of integrity and excellence every day of her life. Coach Lincoln’s hard work and devotion to her craft and to track and field led a remarkable year for Rush Athletics USA in spite of the pandemic. This honor is most deserving.”
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In 2012, Lincoln left another track organization to start her own. Building on the existing AAU and Positive Coaching Alliance foundations, she guided Rush Athletics to be one of the AAU’s premiere track and field organizations in Northern Illinois. During the pandemic, Lincoln researched extensively and created programs which ran during the pandemic and followed the guidelines and protocols set forth by CDC, IDPH, AAU, and local municipalities. Not to mention, Lincoln made numerous changes to stay compliant even when the state shut down causing her to rethink how she was going to train athletes.
Throughout the pandemic, Lincoln created training programs to keep people moving despite restrictions. She created Zoom classes to educate athletes and parents about training during pandemic, trained other coaches on health and safety protocols for successful training/practices to implement, and offered one-on-one and small group training. Lincoln also partnered with Craig Kauffman of South Naperville Strength Resurgence to provide additional training opportunities, Oswego Park District provided opportunities for outdoor programs (cross country), and the new Gately Indoor Track facility provided additional indoor training.
“When we stumbled across Coach Lincoln last year during the pandemic, I said to my son ‘this coach is the real deal,’” claimed Aaron Ward, Sr., parent and current strength coach of Rush Athletics USA. “She was coaching and training athletes in the midst of a pandemic when our track club did not even have a clue if they were even going to have a season. Coach Lincoln had every aspect of training planned for the pandemic from the prescreening with temp check before practice to the small groups no more than 10 with color-coordinate t-shirts, to hosting small meets so that athletes could still experience competition. My family and I were amazed at the amount of energy and time she put into making sure athletes did not miss a beat during the pandemic. Because of her efforts, we have seen our son, in a year’s time, become one of Illinois' best middle school 400m sprinters (53.23 seconds). We were so excited to hear that Coach Lincoln was named the recipient of the AAU Coach of the Year. What a great honor our son has to be coached by one of AAU’s talented track and field coaches!”
“I have watched my mom give 200% of herself to the AAU track and field community,” spoken highly by her youngest son Myles Lincoln (2021 NAIA runner up for Triple Jump - indoor and outdoor titles). “She has provided track development programs in the Plainfield area for nearly 11 years, sharing her coaching expertise with Plainfield South and Aux Sable Middle School athletes and coaches. I can even remember at one point she offered training classes for all of PSD202 middle school track coaches. She just gives and gives and many of the talented athletes in Plainfield, Country Club Hills, and surrounding areas have been trained in some fashion by her. My mom, Coach Lincoln, is an amazing woman and coach; it is such an honor for her to be recognized for her hard work and dedication to this sport.”
“This award is far bigger than myself or my organization, Rush Athletics USA, and is a result of the dedication, loyalty, and hard work of our athletes, coaching staff, parents, community partnerships, and the entire AAU Track & Field program under the leadership of Charles “Coach O” Oliver and the AAU Central District Track & Field under the leadership of Marchan Adkins. Anytime you get an award like this, it's all about the people that lifted you up. Without an incredible family (my spouse and kids) and friends who get it and are willing to make sacrifices as you go through the process and challenges of coaching and managing an organization, you have no chance to succeed.
This past year has been a unique year in its challenges (pandemic challenges), and I am grateful for the tremendous spirit with which my family, athletes, coaching staff, parents, and community have approached each day to make this past year special - What a RUSH!
In reference to my life and career as a teacher and coach, GOD has allowed me to set the precedence and kept me (and all I have encountered) safe (no covid cases) during our training, practices, and hosted events. It is a blessing and a privilege to be able to coach especially during the pandemic alongside Rush Athletics USA’s amazing athletes and coaches.
To my coaching staff (Coach M Gene Lincoln, Coach Gerald Houston Jr., Coach Cierra Rhodes, Coach Andrew Weiss, Coach Kimberly Albright, Coach Mike Witkowski, Coach Aaron Ward Sr., Coach James Harris, Coach Dom Lincoln, and Coach Myles Lincoln), I am so grateful for each one of you. I have been blessed by your wisdom, knowledge, faith, passion, creativity, expertise and to work with you on an on-going basis. You truly have made me a better coach.
To my athletes and parents, we did not miss a beat of training during the pandemic because you embraced the way we approached training using different platforms. It was amazing during the shutdown to see our spring training (April 2020) take flight via Zoom and the use of our digital training calendar. Then when our state began to open up (May 2020), summer track morphed into two locations with small groups of 10 athletes (no more than 20 at a time 30 feet apart with color-coordinated groups to comply with keeping athletes from mixing with other groupings) training at open community tracks, then our groups expanded up to 50 (July 2020). You were able to participate in track meets much smaller than normal due to the restrictions brought on by the pandemic and were able to set FAT marks when many athletes were unable to even practice. We had several athletes attend the 2020 AAU Olympic Games in Florida with one athlete medaling in two of her events. Cross Country (September - November 2020) provided even more opportunities as our state eased back on restrictions. Definitely not a typical year for athletes or for our coaching staff. We made it happen and helped inspire (and even train) other organizations to use our blueprint (covid protocols and guidelines) to get their programs up on running. We did this because you followed the social distancing, face mask, and hand sanitizing guidelines. You showed our nation that youth sports, when athletes and coaches follow covid-related health and safety protocols consistently (every time we trained), could be successful.”
For Lincoln’s upcoming coaching initiative, she has launched a podcasting series called “Living That Track Life” which focuses on the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of being a track and field athlete, coach, and parent and her Instagram v-blog series called “Meet the Real Coach Nicole Lincoln'' continues to provide additional insight. Coach Lincoln has upcoming events planned called “Empowering Girls - Track & Field Edition and her new Empowering Boys - Track and Field Edition. Her future goal is to continue to work with AAU to implement a track and field coaching series and parent university. In the meantime, Coach Lincoln will continue to provide camps, clinics, and private training to those interested in elevating their athletic performance. For more information on how to connect with this year's AAU National Coach of the Year, please check out:
