To be a leader among athletes, a captain must display courage and the unique ability to inspire a team through a season’s lows and highs. A talent for fostering team morale is a necessity for any captain. Coaches rely on these student-athletes to be an extension of their leadership and responsibilities, as the captains have a much better connection with their classmates and teammates.
However, the process in which WJ teams select their captains is not consistent across the school. Boys’ soccer holds voting based on the player’s leadership qualities and the team’s past experiences with the player.
“Our players give a minute long speech and then those who are not graduating, vote to see who will be the captains,” junior Parker Lamoureux said.
Holding speeches for the players provides the prospective captains an opportunity to showcase why they believe they would be good captains.
Another sport that utilizes a voting system is girls’ lacrosse. The Cat Lax Killas have all of the players who want to be a captain write up a short speech explaining why they believe they would be a good leader.
For baseball, the process in which the players choose captains is less hands-on. The responsibility to choose the next year’s captains is on the coaching staff. The coaches evaluate the players to see if they would be a good fit for the team as a captain. Using a combination of performance on the field mixed with work ethic, they determine which players would be the best at taking on the role.
“Having the coaches pick who should be captain takes popularity out of it-],” junior Grant Matalia said.
High school teams can fall victim to assigning their friends as captains, over who truly displays the qualities needed to be a captain. The decision of who should be captain involves more than just who a teammate is friends with.
All sports turn to seniority when deciding who should lead the team. Upperclassmen who have experience playing for their respective sport have the time to develop these essential skills needed to be an effective captain.
