Determine Captains

We only have seniors be captains. If there are only a couple, and both are strong captain material, both are chosen by the coach. If we have a senior class of 10 boys, then it's up to the team to choose. I think we've even split it where the team picks one and the coaches have picked one.

Bottom line is make sure you can back your choice with solid reasoning. More importantly, make sure you know why you did NOT choose the others. The only problem with coaches picking is that it can come back to bite you when a parent questions your call.

The problem with athletes choosing is that it can be a popularity contest or they simply the pick the fastest person, who may or may not be the real best choices.

In either case, make sure that you and the team know the qualities that you look for in a captain and the expectations of the captain. We do this in a preseason meeting before summer vacations. One thing we always mention is that we will not pick someone who blows off summer conditioning.

Dont have captains, the leaders on the team will naturally lead.

One thing that we do - which has worked well is the following:

Give kids a sheet of paper with all who are eligible to receive votes - for us it is all jrs. or srs. as long as they are eligible to compete (no good conduct or grade violations).

Below the list of eligible candidates I have the following:

I vote for ______________ because_______________(leave plenty of space.

I have this on there twice - each kid votes for two people.

Each vote must be accompanied by a good reason that they should be selected.

I tally up the results and usually select a representative number of captains - if it is dominate with one kid recieving a ton more votes, have one captain. If it is split close to 50/50 have a couple.

Then, I have all the kids who receive votes attend a quick meeting. I give each kid their "slips" with why someone thought they should be captain. For the captains, I tell them to keep in mind WHY they were elected. For those who received only a couple votes, I tell them that they, too, have a leadership role on the team - and, even though they may not have received the most votes, there are some other runners who look to them as a personal leader.

It has worked well, and I am always surprised by the quality answers/explanations the kids put down in doing their selecting. I think it also reinforces the kinds of characteristics that those elected captain can reflect on.

why do you need a captain? seriously answer the question

I always thought captains were a stupid idea especially in cross country or track

I always have my captains candidates write me a letter explaining why they want to be a captain. If they don't hand me a letter, they aren't considered and I'm very clear about that. I make a ballot for all the teammates including those graduating and have them vote at our banquet at the end of the year. I'm also clear that as head coach I make the final choices after considering what the votes are and what input I get from my assistants. I pick as many as make sense depending on the size of the team and the number of qualified candidates. Too many is possible and usually only 1 is a bad idea too.

The most important thing to do is then make appointments to meet with all the candidates personally to discuss with them either why they did not get a captaincy or why they did and what my expectations for them are. I also make them promise to never tell anyone the good or bad news until I've had time to meet with all the candidates.

My one piece of advice is that rarely have I ever seen a kid change because he or she was named a captain. Most kids don't become leaders because you name them leaders.

"why do you need a captain? seriously answer the question"

Generally, our captains take on the responsibility of things like team shirts - ordering, collecting money, getting sizes etc. They also schedule team events - like pasta nights. They are in charge of making sure younger kids have rides if needed. Just kind of some of the things that are nice to not have to worry about as a coach.

Is it absolutely critical? Probably not, but it can be worth doing if one wants to. Can also get by without it too, I am sure.

CC COACH wrote:

"why do you need a captain? seriously answer the question"

Generally, our captains take on the responsibility of things like team shirts - ordering, collecting money, getting sizes etc. They also schedule team events - like pasta nights. They are in charge of making sure younger kids have rides if needed. Just kind of some of the things that are nice to not have to worry about as a coach.

Is it absolutely critical? Probably not, but it can be worth doing if one wants to. Can also get by without it too, I am sure.

Agreed. Those who are captains are those who the team recognizes as leaders. Being a captain does help to establish a leadership profile for things like college scholarship applications and service academy appointments.

On our team, captains must have completed one full year on the team and remained in good standing prior to being eligible for nomination. That's the only condition I set. Since our boys and girls teams do almost all of what they do together, I give boys a (reduced) vote on the girls captain(s) and girls a (reduced) vote on the boys captain(s). Our team standards are high enough and the workload heavy enough that we've never really had problems with this turning into a personal popularity contest. The team wants leaders, not the best looking, the most socially skilled, or whatever. Very refreshing to see kids set out in this direction.

We don't need captains, but--on the whole--having them has been a positive for us.

I coach at a small school, 350 students, and average 12-15 boys on the xc team and 25-30 on track.

I don\'t vote on captains and don\'t exclusively make seniors captains. I wait for the natural leader to emerge during summer and winter conditioning.

On the first day of practice I announce 1 cross country captain or the 3 track captains.

My captains are usually \"lead by example\" types, not cheerleaders or the fastest or the most popular. Guys that will take responsibility to make sure the bus is clean, make sure new guys learn the routines, organize team building events like pre-race dinners, make sure the locker room gets cleaned, and enforces team rules, etc.

I meet regularly with my captains (usually once a week during lunch at school) to get a feel for the team atmosphere, goals, discipline, problems, dedication, etc. that I might now otherwise be aware of.

Here is an article our volleyball coach gave me that might help with captain issues.

http://coachesnetwork.com/articles/entries/LEADER%20OF%20THE%20PACK

Parents?

Don't listen to parents.

I also have to say something about the "natural leaders" just "naturally leading."

It's important to differentiate the real leaders (who know what they're doing and are a good influence) from the bossy controlling types who just take over. The bossy, controlling types will always be more into themselves than the team.

Real leadership is obvious once you've seen it. For a leader, there is a time to lead quietly by example and a time to speak up and let everyone know what's best for the team.

The real leaders will become successful in life.

The bossy, controlling types become social workers, politicians, and cops.