Episode VI: Captaincy and Leadership Thoughts

“The most crucial ingredient in a team that achieves and sustains historic greatness is the character of the player who leads it.” - Sam Walker

Oct 05, 2021

Every week, I share a couple of things that I’m reading, learning or actively doing in my personal and professional life. This week, we dive into:

Current Podcast: Marvel’s Wolverine & Casefile True Crime
Practice Idea: Captaincy & Changing Things Up
X’s & O’s: Breakdown of our Motion Offense - Screen Away
Leadership Thought: Carry the Bags
Recommended Article: Master Mind
Reflective Question: Most Important Thing

Current Podcast: Marvel’s Wolverine & Casefile True Crime

Generally speaking, the content I consume has an educational element attached to it. I took a break this week from that as I felt that I needed it. Instead, I dove into two podcasts that were exceptional enough for me to share :-)

Casefile True Crime kept me awake and alert for a recent six-hour road trip on game day, so it’s definitely being added to my travel “listen to list”.

Practice Idea: Captaincy & Changing Things Up

When it comes to developing leadership, traditional coaching focuses on a hierarchical system. Within practices, if a player has an issue they go to the captain who brings the information to the assistant coach, who then decides if it needs to be brought to the attention of the head coach. It reminds me of the below scene.

Why should we want our players to go through certain amounts of filtration processes before the message comes to us? I think part of building that relationship with players and showing them that you care means that they can come directly to you and let you know what’s going on.

During the 2016-17 season, I decided to do away with captains for the first time. Instead, we rotated leadership, so each week a different player was responsible for leading the team. This was from texting details of practice, to deciding travel attire, bedtime curfew, choosing game day music, delegating seats on the bus etc.

The difficulty that we had that season was a lack of consistency. This was due to the fact that everyone wasn’t at the same level of leadership, maturity and responsibility as the others on the team. The one thing that we gained is everyone learned the role that a typical captain. Everyone learned how to deal with mistakes and things going wrong last minute. Everyone had an opportunity to develop key skills.

Leadership Roles > Captaincy Roles

X’s and O’s: Breakdown of our Motion Offense

We are currently working on different aspects of our Motion Offense with our U16 players. This week’s X’s & O’s break down our Screen Away option.

As we put together our practice plans, we are conscious of the learning process and the difference between technique and skill. As such, we generally introduce the movement patterns first, then spend a little bit of time focusing on some key elements of the technical movement. However, real learning happens when we randomise the segment. For more information on the progression, click here.

Leadership Thought: Carry the Bags

A typical sports culture that exists in almost every organisation that I have been in is, “Rookies get to do it!” Whether it is to carry the bags or clean up the gym or anything that is seen as less desirable, rookies get to do it.

I think this is one of those things that has been around for so long that no one questions it as such. I am not a fan of this mindset or culture.

Instead, I believe in getting our leaders (our seniors) to serve others as much as possible. If there is something less desirable to be done but is essential, then the leaders need to step up and show the newcomers how it should be done.

Such is the story of Carla Overbeck, the captain of the USA Women’s Soccer National Team that won Gold in the 1996 Olympics and in the 1999 World Cup.

Below is an excerpt from Dan Lyons.

Develop leaders that serve first, rather than seek to be served.

The Youth Playbook

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