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Post by lilbuck1103 on Jan 23, 2010 12:39:59 GMT -6
Coaches, What are some ways in which you choose your captains? Or do you feel that your captains are just the guys who go out for the coin flip.
We do a lot of stuff with developing our senior class each year and am wondering if we should be placing more emphasis on how we choose our captains. Thanks guys!
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Post by touchdownmaker on Jan 23, 2010 14:10:40 GMT -6
I have learned, grade just doesnt matter when it comes to leadership. we stress senior leadership and even have a trophy that we present at our banquet "senior leadership award" (goes to top senior pride points earner and/or motivational factor) now I am going straight pride points. want to be a captain? earn it. I expect to have at least one jr captain next year, maybe two.
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Post by coachguy83 on Jan 23, 2010 16:12:07 GMT -6
This past season I used a system that I really liked and will probably continue to use regardless of the level I coach. I allowed to players to vote on two captains and to be honest they made great choices. Then we picked two more as a coaching staff and to be honest at times the players choices were better. Than we had a fifth captain that I chose each week as an award for the guy that really stepped it up.
The one thing I am going to do differently next year is have some sort of leadership material put together for my four full time captains. I hope this will help improve the number of times that I felt the team was leaderless.
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mont
Junior Member
Posts: 322
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Post by mont on Jan 23, 2010 16:40:46 GMT -6
Captains to me are difficult to select in high school. Also, I ask myself just what purpose they serve. Football is a game with many players on a team, again the team. Many times our most committed players who attend all the weights, camps, etc.. may not be great vocal leaders who are comfortable confronting the team.
I have found it best to select captains on a weekly basis (regardless of grade) based on criteria throughout the week. Those players selected by our staff will lead us onto the field and then will go out for the coin toss.
Finally, at our banquet I will announce our final captains for that year. Those players will have their names placed on a plaque that sits in our trophy case. Kids love the term captain and like many of you have stated selecting captains at the beginning of the year can be a disaster if one does not fulfill that responsibility.
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Post by coachjd on Jan 24, 2010 7:35:21 GMT -6
We do not pick our captains until after week 1 of practice. We talk to all our juniors after the season about the importance of all of them taking ownership in the program. We talk to them about how this is now their responsibility to man the ship for a year. We then tell them that in the spring there will be 4 - leadership meetings, if you miss you cannot be a captain. If you get a high school league violation, you cannot be a captain.
Then during our summer camp we tell all the juniors to take advantage of the leadership responsibilities during the wgt room, camp, 7 on 7, etc... and then we talk to the rest of the team how they need to observe who is taking charge. Who do you see taking ownership in our program. Who is in the wgt room (attendence is posted on the board) who is leading in drills, who is patting teammates on the back. Who is helping others, etc....
We talk about all of this each day before practice as well during week 1, and on Friday before practice we vote and name the captains after practice.
We have avoided the popularity votes, and have weeded out the non-comitted kids. Has worked well for us.
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Post by coachgr on Jan 24, 2010 7:45:12 GMT -6
I pick our 4 captains every Monday leading up to our game. It changes every week. Look the week prior to determine who has shown leadership qualities. I think it gives more kids ownership of the program.
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Post by touchdowng on Jan 24, 2010 12:33:33 GMT -6
We allow our team to vote on 1 captain prior to our awards banquet. This allows our exiting seniors to have some say on their legacy.
After the vote is finished I will pull the player in who is selected and make sure he understands what my expectations are. (more on this in a second). I want to make sure he really WANTS to be a captain.
We announce this captain at our banquet.
We allow our players to vote on our next captain during Spring FB. Our coaches will select our 3rd captain duing our team camp in mid-July.
During the season our coaches will select a 4th game captain and do this on a weekly basis.
The reason we do it this way is that we believe that all of our seniors need to develop and improve upon their leadership skills. We make a big deal of pointing out (during the previous season) what strides the current seniors have made in this area. You can always find something!
From the time we select captain #1 to captain #4 our program experiences an inprovment in leadership amongst our seniors because that's expected. You have to make it a big deal or you will get nothing. I believe some coaches don't believe in captains because they aren't willing to take the time to intentionally develop kids in this area.
What we expect from our captains in the off-season: 1. Help organize team events through phone calling, message delivering, organizing fund raising events such as car washes. (It's very much servant leadership)
2. Be an extention of our program by being available for open house nights and work our FB booth for interested parents and junior high students.
3. Speak with underclassmen who are having issues and might feel more comfortable speaking to a teen rather than an adult.
During the season: 1. On time for everything 2. Meet with HC weekly to discuss any team issues that need to be communicated 3. Maintain a strong level of respect from their coaches and teammates through academics, behaviors, service and being selfless.
Captains and senior leadership can be very powerful
In the case where a team doesn't have much senior leadership, begin leaning on the juniors but let the seniors know as a group that they have to step it up before you ever go this route. Provide examples of what you're looking for and give them an opportunity to respond.
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Post by yellowjacketdc on Jan 25, 2010 11:56:34 GMT -6
Great ideas, everyone. We call our captains Shepherds and they are expected to lead on and off the field. Each week, the staff evaluates who the shepherds are for the week. If we have one outstanding leader, he may be one of the shepherds for the whole year. That way, he has experience with the coin toss and penalty situations. Some weeks, we may have 2 shepherds, others we may have up to five.
We also have a council, which includes sophs - seniors to helps us make certain off the field team-type decisions.
MJ
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Post by kcbazooka on Jan 26, 2010 8:34:12 GMT -6
I chose the captains each week based on performance from the game before and the week leading up to the game. Only those who have a "W" (off-season program) are allowed to be captains and we try to have every kid that receives the "W" to be a captain sometime during the season whether it is on varsity or J-V.
It gives the kids something to hang their hat on that they will remember the rest of their lives.
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mce86
Junior Member
Posts: 281
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Post by mce86 on Jan 26, 2010 9:25:04 GMT -6
Alot of times, you should choose who the true captains of the team are...you can see who they are in the weight room, practice, etc..Working with them in the off-season and sharing your expectations with them helps as well.
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ozcoach
Sophomore Member
Posts: 132
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Post by ozcoach on Jan 27, 2010 2:10:39 GMT -6
We have 3 permanent captains and a rotating weekly captain to allow for recognition of effort, leadership and other aspects. The permanent captains aren't announced until the final week of practice.
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Post by senatorblutarsky on Jan 27, 2010 12:39:57 GMT -6
To be a captain here, one must apply for the position. We have requirements (like any job would have) that they be a senior or a junior who contributed on varsity the previous year.
They submit a letter and application (which addresses 5 questions).
If we have more than 4, we interview with all coaches and 1 player from each class.
Since we instituted this 5 years ago, we've rarely interviewed... and we always get the guys who belong there.
This has worked very well for us.
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