Leading a team, being an athletic standout, and taking the extra time for your team are all qualities of many Benilde-St. Margaret’s captains. These captains are the kind of people who put others before themselves and help their team succeed.
The biggest thing about being a captain is leadership and the willingness to speak up. Getting up in front of their peers and not having fear to say something, like having to tell a teammate they are doing something wrong to advance their skills. “I try to connect with everyone and, when something’s going wrong, I like stepping in to show leadership, and just trying to bond the team together,” senior Gus Ronlund, cross country captain said.
Being a captain is often more work than just being a player and comes with many responsibilities. These will now become a captain’s job, like setting up the captain’s practices for example. “I’m leading a group of over 50 other kids and we had to set up certain things, motivate everybody, and just always be ready to lead so now it’s more work than just being a team member,” senior Nirvaan Yogarajah, football captain, said.
Being a captain you are not just looked up to by the players, but you are also looked at by the coaches. The players have a big influence on who the captains will be, but the coaches are the ones who make the final call on who gets the captain title. The coaches have big expectations for their captains. “The coaches rely on you to do [many] roles–to stay engaged and be a role model,” senior Davis Puncochar, Boys’ Basketball captain, said.
The coaches rely on you to do [many] roles–to stay engaged and be a role model.”
— Davis Puncochar
The selection process for becoming a captain can differ from team to team. The coaching staff can either pick the people who stand out to them, have the players pick who they want to lead them, or a mix of both. “I think Coach Mac selected [these past season captains] Andrew, Eddie, Slater, and me through our attendance and our leadership through last season. I think they just decide who it is from that,” Yogarajah said.
The main responsibility of a captain is to help plan team fundraising, helping out in the community, and other various activities. This separates from just playing the sport but growing the community of the sport and speaking for the team. “[Our roles are] having to run our captain’s practices and our practices in the winter, fall, and spring. And having to set up some donations or going to read during convocations and things like that,” senior Gus Bell, Boys’ Lacrosse captain, said.