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Post by mjfeldman on May 22, 2007 8:27:34 GMT -6
Coaches...
Does anyone have their captains adhere to specific responsibilities? If so do you have them written down? I am looking to have our captains sign a responsibility contract next year that really defines what the coaching staff expects from its leaders and hold them accountable to it.
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Post by coachjd on May 22, 2007 9:05:55 GMT -6
I believe you should give the captains a set of expectations and if they are a true leader they should demonstrate accountability without you or any of the coaches holding them accountable.
We are in the process of meeting with all of our juniors one time per week. We as a group are completing the "Team Captain's Leadership Manual" by Jeff Janssen. This book is outstanding and will help lay the groundwork for all your seniors who need to help lead the team.
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iahc
Freshmen Member
Posts: 78
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Post by iahc on May 22, 2007 11:05:12 GMT -6
I, like coachjd, am meeting with my juniors and we are going through the same book - great resource. Of that group of juniors, 3 will become our "permanent" captains for the season. (permanent captains because we also select an honorary captain on a weekly basis during the season).
I do have my 3 permanent captains sign a contract-like document. I call it the Captain's Code of Responsibility and it sets some general expectations for them and also lets them know that the captaincy can be taken from them should they violate team rules or the school district's good conduct policy.
It came in handy this past season when one of our captains received a possession ticket two weeks before we started camp. He had signed on the dotted line and when mommy went to the superintendent claiming it wasn't fair for him to no longer be captain the sup. looked at the Code and backed me 100%
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Post by wildcat on May 22, 2007 11:15:15 GMT -6
I always thought the whole captain thing was overrated...What I would prefer doing is rotating the captain slots throughout the kids each week so everyone of them has a chance to be a "leader".
In my admittedly limited experience, there are going to be natural leaders on the team...some of those guys are "captain" material, some of them are not...if you downplay the traditional captain thing and let every kid get a chance to "wear the hat", you are going to develop more leaders and you are going to allow those "natural" leaders to do their thing.
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Post by coachjd on May 22, 2007 12:18:47 GMT -6
We make all our juniors go through leadership training in the spring. We tell them that this is their football team and they all need to assume a roll in leadership. We do not vote for captains until after the 2nd week of practice. We take time to talk to the entire team about what they all should be looking for in a team captain. After the 2nd week of practice we vote on 3 captains and the coaches will select another 8 seniors who will each be a team captain for one game.
Our hope is the cream will rise to the top during the summer workouts and 2 a days.
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Post by wildcat on May 22, 2007 12:48:18 GMT -6
I guess that I just had a bad experience with it in the past that really soured me to the idea of permanent captains...used to work for a program that really had the worst possible kids as captains...kids got to be captains because their parents were loud and vocal. Kids who couldn't cut it in the classroom got to be classrooms. Kids who got in trouble and got busted for drinking and doing other bad stuff got to be captains.
HC's thinking was that by putting questionable kids into leadership roles, they would rise up to the challenge and magically become model citizens. Never worked. And then when these guys screwed up (and they always did) there was no accountability. We had one of these yahoos get busted for drinking at a party and missed 2 games. Not a word was said to the kid and when his suspension was up, he went right back to being a captain and regained his starting spot.
So, I shouldn't let my personal negative experience with captains cloud my judgement. It certainly can be a very positive and rewarding experience for kids.
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