Chief Mike Marcinkowski and Rachel Boeke May 7, 2009

'Chief' is Central's coach with a badge

by Scott Kretzmann    

Perhaps the only person that would ever call Mike Marcinkowski’s involvement with the Central College track and field team selfish is Marcinkowski himself.

Marcinkowski is the chief of the Pella Police Department. But on campus,“Chief” has been the throwing events coach on the Central men’s and women’s track and field teams since 1999. Both professionally and personally, Marcinkowski believes that he is the winner in this unique setup.

“I think my availability and presence on campus makes me easy for students to approach and I think that helps the communication between the police department and the college,” said Marcinkowski.

More importantly, though, he gets the opportunity to connect with, inspire and befriend the young men and women he works with.

“I got to coach my own son which was great, but now he’s all grown up and away from home, and I still get to work with a lot of athletes now,” Marcinkowski said. “There’s this friendship that gets developed that goes beyond the coach-athlete relationship.”

Senior Rachel Boeke, an all-Iowa Conference thrower, can attest.

“As a group, we’re very tight knit and have a lot of fun, and Chief’s just a part of that,” said Boeke. “He and his wife will have us over for dinner and we’ll cook out. It’s a lot of fun.

“To us, he’s not the chief of police. He’s just this awesome guy who happens to be our coach.”

An experienced thrower himself, having thrown shot put and discus at Indiana State University and winning both events at the World Police and Fire Games in 1996, Marcinkowski began coaching when his son entered middle school and spent 10 years as a high school coach before arriving in Pella.

Coach Mike Marcinkowski and Trevor Hixon“He’s a great coach,” said Kevin Sanger, who served as Central’s head track and field coach from 1996- 2008 and asked Marcinkowski to join the coaching staff in 1999. “There’s really nothing special that he does technically, but he is specific to the needs of the athletes he works with. It sounds like something so simple but it’s hard to make the right connections with the athletes. That’s what he’s great at.”

Under Marcinkowski’s tutelage Dutch throwers have earned all-America honors eight times. Alicia Whisner captured the NCAA Division III javelin crown in 2007. However, Marcinkowski refuses to take any credit.

“At Central we have so many student-athletes with a great work ethic,” he said. “ All I need to is help them a little bit. The success we’ve had in the track and field program at Central is a credit to the students who are here because they want to be here.”

But when Marcinkowski talks about success he goes far beyond the distances that his athletes have thrown and the awards that they have earned during their time in the track and field program. 

“I want to push them and teach them to push themselves to become better,” he said. “Not just in throwing, but in every aspect of life. My father taught me those lessons and I try to pass them on.”

He beams with more pride about attending his athletes’ weddings or christenings than any throwing records they set. He even became ordained so that he could perform the wedding ceremony of two of his former athletes. Marcinkowski is always willing to provide a boost to them in their lives away from the track.

 “He’s helped a lot of athletes find internships and jobs,” Sanger said, “And he tries to help them in any way he can. I think it’s a good situation all around for the track program.”

Boeke knows how far he will go to help a student.

“He has his foot in the door to anything we could want to do,” said Boeke. “If anyone is staying in Pella for the summer he’ll help them find some kind of work, and he’s told me that if I need help finding anything after graduation then he can help me.”

“I love being a part of their lives,” said Marcinkowski. “I love picking up the phone and hearing from a former athlete who just wants to update me on their lives and find out how I’m doing. There’s no greater compliment in the world than that, and I consider myself blessed to have made these relationships.”

For all that he does Marcinkowski asks only one thing of the athletes he works with: to give back to their own communities.

“He’s extremely unselfish,” Sanger said. “He takes opportunities to do all sorts of things in the community and encourages the athletes to do the same.”

“I try to instill upon them that they need to get out and volunteer,” Marcinkowski said. “One thing I tell a lot of them is that if they felt track and field was important enough to do in college then they should try to volunteer and help out at a high school.”

With Marcinkowski contemplating stepping down from his post on the Central track and field team at the end of the season there will be a void to fill larger than just that of a throws coach. With any luck, the Dutch will find someone just as selfish.