Becoming a Capitan

Discussion in 'Coach' started by roaryblanton, Jun 26, 2004.

  1. roaryblanton

    roaryblanton New Member

    Jun 17, 2004
    Hello-

    I am a player for an U16 Boys team, and presently our team has a capitan, but he was chosen at the spur of the moment. After one season, I don't particularly feel this one player posesses captainship qualities. I want to approach my coach and talk to him about it and possibly ask him if I could take over the role as capitain, as I feel I would be a good one.

    Any suggestions? Is this a bad idea?

    Thanks
     
  2. Richie

    Richie Red Card

    May 6, 1999
    Brooklyn, NY, United
    No it's a good idea. Why didn't he notice your leadership qualities on the practice field? That is what makes a good captain. It is like a coach on the field. You should communicate alot and that communication should help the team and the players in practice and in games.

    Richie
     
  3. goyoureddevils

    Dec 17, 2002
    Fort Wayne, Indiana
    I do not let my players pick the captains, I pick them, and change them myself, as do most good coaches. I do not change them that often because I do not like changing the chemistry of the team, but neither do I make spur of the moment decisions about who I will choose.

    What I am getting at is this, if you want the coach, and the team to start thinking of you as a leader, then start acting like one immediately. Act like a leader before practice, during practice, after practice and so on. That means you are the one policing the guys, reminding them to be ready to go, to stay diciplined, reminding them of the coach's instructions, getting in their face about bad behavior/language/showing up on time, ect. A good leader, hence a good captain is the coach's representative to the players. He is in effect the assistant coach, helping keep the players in line, while maintaining a positive attitude towards all that goes on. A player gets lazy at practice, does your coach want to have to yell at him and make him or the team run for it? No, he wants a player on the team to tell that kid, nicely but firmly, to get his a$$ moving so that the whole team doesn't have to suffer for it. The coach knows that hearing this from his peers is sometimes much more efective than hearing it for the 100th time from coach.

    This is just one example of what a leader should do. Real leaders lead because they see clearly right from wrong and want only for their team to do the right things so that success can be achieved.

    Good luck
     
  4. roaryblanton

    roaryblanton New Member

    Jun 17, 2004
    Thanks for your ideas!
     
  5. uniteo

    uniteo Member+

    Sep 2, 2000
    Rockville, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd encourage you to speak with your coach, but realize that a lot of factors go into picking a captain. My U-14 team has a player who I think would be a great captain...a mirror of what I'm tryint to accomplish on the field - she's outspoken, skilled, positive but demanding from her teammates, really into the game and practices.

    But she wasn't my captain, because at team meetings there was another player who always ended up being the focal point and leading discussions. Now this player was not absorbed by soccer, was very social - sometimes too social at practices, and not outspoken on the field. But she was a natural leader.

    I always considered the first player a natural captain. But I challenged the second player by saying, "You're an obvious natural leader, your teammates look up to you and follow you but you are not always serious and when people follow that example it is disruptive. I'm making you the captain and I want you to accept the challenge and responsibility of leading your teammates and making practices and games more productive."

    She responded wonderfully, and she led the team in a way the first girl could not have, not because she deserved it more, just because of some leadership quality that the first girl had to some degree, but not as much.

    Good luck, but if your coach doesn't select you don't take it as a criticism.
     
  6. smith07

    smith07 New Member

    Mar 26, 2004
    I have found that most people who seek out leadership aren't fit for it. If it is offerred accept. BUt i don't think it looks good to seek it out. It could appear like you are on an ego trip
     
  7. Bonji

    Bonji Moderator

    Feb 4, 2003
    Denver, Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ask your coach how he chose the current captain. If it really was a spur of the moment thing, ask how you might get a chance to earn the armband. If the coach really put thought into it, then don't ask for it, show he made the wrong decission by helping out on the field. Show him the leadership being captian requires.
     
  8. Coachssi

    Coachssi New Member

    Jul 18, 2004
    I coach soccer and I love when my players show the confidence and approach me with their thoughts. You go for it.
     
  9. Viking Striker

    Viking Striker New Member

    Dec 4, 2004
    Another thing you might do is see if your coach would have two captains, perhaps offensive and defensive or something of the sort.
     
  10. Duniyadnd

    Duniyadnd New Member

    Nov 2, 2003
    Even if you have a weak captain, you can show leadership qualities by following the current captain and helping your teammates to do so as well to avoid a rift.

    It's a lot easier not to believe in the captain and believe in yourself, but a lot more effort to make the team work. The coach should be able to see this, if not, just talk to him, but not to replace the captain, and he should make a better judgement next time around.
     
  11. htafc

    htafc New Member

    Dec 12, 2004
    England
    im in a very similar situation, i think im am good enough but am over shadowed by two players- one of them is similar to me but the other is very poor and only gets the armband because hes the managers son :mad: , ive never even been offered to be captain for this team that i play for :mad:
     
  12. MetroChile

    MetroChile Member+

    Jan 13, 2001
    NJ; Valpo.
    Club:
    Santiago Wanderers
    Nat'l Team:
    Chile
    I was a skipper for my school team this year, and despite not being Roy Keane I was able to lead my team rather well. However, a person that I thought was my close friend got envious in my opinion. He wouldn't help when I tried to get the team to do stuff, everyone else cooperated. He was a ************ in every sense of the word like that---needless to say I'm no longer friends with him. In essence a captain should be chosen between players and coaches, and the ultimae choice being "ratified" by the gaffer after the players make their pick.
    Also, maybe it's not that this guy you speak of is a bad captain, per say, but maybe he is not used to it. Being captain isn't easy, and it's not glamorous, however, it is a job that a qualified person should have.
     
  13. saabrian

    saabrian Member

    Mar 25, 2002
    Upstate NY
    Club:
    Leicester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    "Act like a leader before practice, during practice, after practice and so on"

    I agree with most of what goyouredevils said (except his nickname!). I've always chosen my captains, though this year, I let my players pick one and I picked the other one. It gave me a sense of who command the respect of the players. The kid who got elected (I let them vote for whoever they wanted, no nominations) was chosen by like 14 of the 16. It was an experiment and ended up working out well. The kid was a great leader and a great captain. Ironically, if I'd chosen both captains, he would've been the other one anyway.

    In any case, what I look for is much what he described. What I look for is how my players act when they think I'm not paying attention. Remember that coaches pay attention a lot more often than you think and to little things that you might not think they'd notice.

    Do they do what they know they're supposed to be doing without me telling? Do they tell players to knock it off when they're goofing around? Do they take charge and act like a leader when the coach is working with someone else or focusing on something else?
     
  14. firstshirt

    firstshirt Member+

    Bayern München
    United States
    Mar 1, 2000
    Ellington, CT / NK, RI
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    i coached a boys JV team for 5 years, I chose two captains and let the team pick one. I looked for players that would take charge of the practices, who communicated well on the field and never put down or made fun of a teammate. someone who would make suggestions on what they think is working or not. I always had two or 3 guys that stepped it up and made it easy for me.
     
  15. knut

    knut New Member

    Jul 8, 2003
    With all due respect, I think you are focusing on entirely the wrong things. Who is named captain is an issue for the coach. And how well or poorly he is performing in that roll is for your coach to assess, same as how well or poorly every player on the team is performing in their particular roles. You should be concentrating on things you can control and let the rest play out as it will. I often have to remind my own player (and even more often their parents) the very same thing. You have no more control over this matter than over who makes the A team and who makes the B team. You have no more control over this than a referee’s good or bad call.

    I tell it to my players this way: Treat the referee and the opponent not as a person (which is something you interact with) but as a thing or a condition (which is something you react and adjust to). Treat them like the weather or the field conditions: Just as you cannot control how windy the day is, or how wet & muddy the field is or how hot or cold the temperature is, neither can you control how good or bad a referee’s call is, or how much an opponent may trash talk or cheap shot you. And I also tell them: as soon as you allow yourself to get sucked into any of that other stuff then THEY HAVE GOT YOU, and you have taken your first step toward losing that game – because you are no longer concentrating on you, your game plan, and executing that game plan. And once you’ve lost that, you’re done.

    For your purposes, I would also include, you cannot control who makes the team and who gets cut or sent down to the B side, you cannot control what system(s) the coach will choose to use over the season, you cannot control which players will play in which positions, and you cannot control who the coach will choose to captain the team.

    What you SHOULD be focusing on instead is your own level and quality of play. Are you training diligently each day in preparation for the season? Another thing you can control is maybe arranging for 8 or more of you from the team to play independently some short-sided play to even more greatly improve the chances of not only yourself, but the team too. Just this one suggestion would to several positive and beneficial things; [1] Every team and every player can always stand for some improvement – this would be an opportunity to improve your skills; [2] players of a team taking this sort of initiative are the sorts of things that enhance and strengthen team chemistry (which will improve your team); [3] to initiate this sort of activity shows the stuff of a true leader – certainly much more than politicking or overtly requesting a captaincy (which in my own humble opinion is not only poor form, but poor priorities as well).

    So to answer your question: “Is this a bad idea?”: Yes. In my opinion it’s a horrible idea.

    Reset your focus to things YOU can control (how hard you train, how much your skills are improving, how often you play). Concentrate your efforts on what will make YOU a better player and your team a better team. Let the rest take care of itself.

    One last note I like to have people consider when dwelling on this sort of thing: Mia Hamm was never the captain to the USWNT. Yet, is there anybody in their right mind who would ever question the fact that she was a true team leader? Does anyone suppose that she was respected and looked to any less by her team, by her opponents, or by the world because she wasn’t the “captain”?

    And one final thought about Mia Hamm – do you think it was ever at all important to her that she never wore the armband when Akres, Overbeck and Foudy did? I’ll guarantee you that answer is “no”.

    You don’t need an armband to be the kind of person your teammates will respect and follow. And if you truly do have the leadership qualities you seem to think you have, then you’ll earn that respect and you won’t feel the need to wear an armband to achieve that – or to validate your own self worth.

    One coach’s opinion.

    regards,

    k
     

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