The captains for each fall sport have a huge responsibility to the team and their coaches. It is their duty to be a leader and role model for their teams.

This year, BSM has joined forces with the Fortis Academy Organization and begun hosting captain workshops to help improve and reinforce the core leadership skills within each sport. “It is about what it means to be a captain and give instant help with how to do a better job,” BSM Athletic Director Mr. Jerry Pettinger said.

Pettinger has put the workshop together for the teams with the help of Josh Levine and Matt Overman, who work for the group Fortis Academy, and are the developers of this leadership curriculum. Each sports season, with the exception of spring sports, has five sessions throughout their season. Since the spring season is a little shorter, there will only be four sessions.

In these workshops, Levine and Overman take the captains through scenarios and guide them through what they should do and how to handle them. They started out with filling out a self-reflection that helped them see what kind of leadership qualities were their strengths, and then traits they could work on. The rest of the sessions have been devoted to solving potential and actual problems on the team. “Matt is really understanding and helpful, and has some really good perspectives on our situations because he has been there before, and has experience in different levels of sports,” senior volleyball captain Anna Carr said.

Carr and soccer captain Cole Knickelbine have really enjoyed these workshop sessions. “It’s really nice to be able to talk with captains from other sports that are nothing like volleyball, but all come together in the realization that we have a lot more of the same problems and difficulties being leaders in our programs,” Carr said.

Carr and Knickelbine both have said that it has helped them work through problems within their team and how to be a better leader and captain. “I learned many ways to passively help problems and delegate as a leader,” Knickelbine said.

One thing they take away from this experience is how to communicate and compromise through their differences. “Communication is key in any big leadership role. Communication not only with coaches, but also players, other captains, parents, and anyone else in the program,” Carr said.

Another thing they both mentioned is the enjoyment of getting food at each session. “I liked it because we got good food and a chance to talk about how our team was doing,” Knickelbine said.

Overall, Pettinger hopes to continue this helpful program in the future. “I think the more we do this and get better at it, by taking what went well in the fall and what didn’t go well, and then we can make improvements for the winter and improvements for the spring, and by next year I think we can have a program that is a little better,” Pettinger said.