She Can Be... A Coach

STARKVILLE – One.

There is one black woman coaching throwers in the Power Five.

April Thomas is the "one" in many different scenarios.

She is the first African-American and first female throws coach to sweep the javelin podium at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

She is one of four African-American women who serve as associate head coaches of their respective programs in the Power Five.

And she is one of only five female throws coaches in the Power Five.

She is unique.

"It's a rarity to see a woman in throws coaching," Thomas said. "It's such a male-heavy, dominated area. I enjoy my job and I love to see other women in coaching. A majority of them have paved the way for us younger coaches; to set us up in our sports for us to pick up where they left off."

She didn't have a lot of women to look up to in her area of interest, especially ones who resemble her.

"When I figured out who Connie Price-Smith is and I saw her achieve things at a high level, that's the level I'm trying to get at right there," she said. "I want to be like her."

Price-Smith is the head track and field coach at Ole Miss, and another African-American woman with a background in throws. She was a four-time Olympian and is a USA Track & Field Hall of Famer. In 2017, she was named president of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

That year Thomas sent her congratulations. Two years later, Price-Smith returned the well-wishes when Thomas was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year.

"She's paving the way for people like me. She's giving me the opportunity," Thomas said. "Any time I can pick her brain about anything, I will. She and her husband are coaches who are willing to share information. They're not holding it hostage. Yes, we're at rival schools, but we don't see that. We're just trying to do what's best for the sport."

I have to remind myself why I started this and why I'm doing this. I want the younger kids to see, including my kids on the team now, that if they want to be a coach regardless of what sport, I want them to see somebody like them doing it. That's the main reason why I still do this outside the joy of my kids' success and when they finally figure things out. That's the main goal.

I have to remind myself why I started this and why I'm doing this. I want the younger kids to see, including my kids on the team now, that if they want to be a coach regardless of what sport, I want them to see somebody like them doing it. That's the main reason why I still do this outside the joy of my kids' success and when they finally figure things out. That's the main goal.

Her yearning for information on how to grow and improve goes beyond just talking to Price-Smith.

"I try to talk to other coaches and ones from other sports and say, 'Hey, what are you doing? What are some things you could tell me that I need to try to make sure I'm still doing this 20 years from now, God willing?'" she said.

The Albany, Georgia, native started in track and field at an early age thanks to her mom, and a hometown hero she looked up to: Alice Coachman.

"[Coachman] was the first black woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics in the 1948 London games in the high jump," Thomas explained. "Just looking at her, seeing that we've got people from my hometown being the first to do things, I'm looking to add to that list."

I'm adding to that legacy of someone coming from my hometown, and we're doing big things outside of your main sports of football, basketball or even baseball. I'm a part of that first group and I really appreciate that. Outside of my family, it helps me stay humble. My mom reminds me, "I don't care how many firsts you are, I'm still your mama. Don't forget that."

I'm adding to that legacy of someone coming from my hometown, and we're doing big things outside of your main sports of football, basketball or even baseball. I'm a part of that first group and I really appreciate that. Outside of my family, it helps me stay humble. My mom reminds me, "I don't care how many firsts you are, I'm still your mama. Don't forget that."

Thomas went directly into coaching after graduating from the University of Tennessee in 2007. While competing as a Lady Vol, she finished with four top-five SEC finishes in the shot put and found herself in the record books for both the shot and the weight throw. She decided she'd pass her knowledge of throwing to others quickly.

"In the beginning it was a little like a deer in the headlights," she said. "The original plan was to graduate and become a grad assistant, maybe help out with the track and field team, learning all I can from the throws coach at Tennessee at the time. But I graduated, and literally two or three weeks later I was at Mississippi State coaching."

She navigated having student-athletes close to her in age, but established that she was the coach and meant business. She also faced hardships that come with being a minority in her field.

"It's hard to be in a situation where I feel like I'm doing everything I can to make my athletes better and to become a better coach, but yet I still have some male counterparts that don't give me the respect."

I've been labeled sometimes as a one-trick pony because of JavU. They don't think I'm a well-rounded coach overall. I have to look past that. If you go back and do a little research, you'd see that I'm not a one-trick pony.

I've been labeled sometimes as a one-trick pony because of JavU. They don't think I'm a well-rounded coach overall. I have to look past that. If you go back and do a little research, you'd see that I'm not a one-trick pony.

Thomas described times that she has experienced coaches not giving her the time of day. It's come out at meets when she overhears those same coaches tell their athletes not to worry about Mississippi State.

"I'm thinking 'ouch' and 'wow.' I pick up on it, but I'm telling my kids, 'When you go to throw, the people you're competing against may be your friends, but at the end of the day they're trying to beat you. All that friendship goes out the window.'"

Despite the negativity she endures, she has no animosity toward those who dish it to her.

"It hurts a little bit that I still don't get that respect because at the end of the day, when the roles are reversed, I'm rooting them on," she said. "I'm saying, 'Hey, your hard work all year has paid off.' It's 2021, and people still have that small-minded thinking that 'Oh well, she's a woman.'"

I'm in a male-dominated area. I still have to work really, really hard to prove myself and I'm up to the challenge. I'm never going to stop. As long as there's a breath in my body, I'm still going to do that.

I'm in a male-dominated area. I still have to work really, really hard to prove myself and I'm up to the challenge. I'm never going to stop. As long as there's a breath in my body, I'm still going to do that.

Her athletes see it, but she tells them not to focus on the school they are up against and focus on beating themselves. Thomas encourages her student-athletes to trust and believe in their training, not worry about their surroundings, and compete. She has to do the same herself and go in with confidence like her athletes.

At the end of the day, one thing is certain.

"I'm glad that I got into sports, and I'm glad that I'm still coaching sports, especially track and field," she said. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Her advice to those who follow her footsteps is simple: coach because you have a passion for it and you want to see your athletes be great.

"If you can do those things and you know your stuff – you know your event area – and know how to communicate it to your athletes, the winning is a bonus," Thomas said. "It's going to happen. That's not forced. You'll be able to convey that and teach your kids that. You've got to have that passion for it and be a student of your sport."

Thomas said she learns something from her athletes each and every day, things they can and can't do, or just picking up on new aspects of their throw as they evolve. She explained she can't be complacent. She has to want to grow as a coach every day.

When asked to complete the sentence "She can be…", she saw no limit.

"Anything," she said. "You can be anything you want to be, you just have to keep working hard for it. If you want to be a world-class shot putter or javelin thrower, I suggest you come here, but you can be whatever you want to be if you just work hard at it."

Mississippi State University Athletics

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