At the end of our first college season, we held elections for our college team. Incidentally, i think I beat out Jaeger for the second captain position! It was the first time I was elected captain of a frisbee team. Including that time, I have now been captain for 10 UPA series. 4 in college, 6 in club (2 in Michigan + 4 here). In total, I have played in 5 college series + 9 club series. It is humorous to me that I have been captain so much, maybe not so humorous to those that spend a lot of time with me.
Anyway, the most important thing that I have learned while being captain is there has to be some sort of committee/brain trust/elder council or something. This may seem clear to you. It was not always so clear to me.
Take my first season as captain of magnUM. We were all relatively new to the game. We tried to get Brian to coach us, but he was not around enough. Damn med school. I was probably not the best guy on the team after our first year, but then I played a ton of summer league + played on Big Ass Truck. So heading into the fall, I was probably the most driven. I had a small taste of winning and I wanted to win more. Most importantly, I had a team that seemed to be heading in the same direction. We all wanted to win more.
That year was somewhat successful. It ended up with us losing to Iowa and Wisconsin on the 2nd day of regionals in AA. That day deserves another blogging-day.
I learned a ton that year, not only as a player, but as a leader. There are 5 lessons that I really learned after that first year (and I forgot when I arrived in Minneapolis and became captain again).
These lessons-
1. Experience + Outside Observers (ie coach) are huge and you need to use these resources as much as possible. Although our strategy was a little more complex then the horse + buggy, we were unable to adapt during games. Not only did it take a more experienced guy to help us out on that 2nd day of regionals, he was also not involved in the game. This was huge and something that benefits the team (Assuming the coach is not a tard).
2. Critical thinking about what happened. Take what you did the previous practice/tourney/scrimmage and try to improve. Now, not a practice or tourney goes by without me without evaluating the team + the structure of frisbee related event. My first year it seemed I often wanted to forgot or just remember the positive things. But to improve, you have to focus on what you believe was negative + help you or the team correct it.
3. Have a group who are comfortable talking to you (maybe this should be more like 1a). This is more for a 1 or 2 captain team. You have to have others who can talk to you and critique what is done. And you have to be willing to listen. ON Zero, we have 4 captains w/ a range of experience/ideas, but we still solicit input from others. If people feel like they can't approach you, you are asking for a revolt.
4. Be the teammate/player that you want others to be. You must lead by example on and off the field. If you do not allow others to have excuses for practice, you can't have them yourself. Captaining w/ Jaeger in 99 was great b/c he was always working to get better. The people who I have captained on Zero the past 3 years have always been those working the hardest at practice, at workouts, and at tourneys. If you are lazily warming up, not participating in drills, or getting beat on d, well.... It makes it harder for your teammates to follow.
5. Say something positive once in awhile. This is the hardest thing for me and it is probably why I keep Charlie around. He is greating at telling people that are playing well. For me, the John Wooden quote of "Always thank the guy who gave you the assist" (or something like that) is huge. It does not always have to be immediately after the play, but we have a break in between scores so it should be soon. I have a rule to myself that I try to talk to 2 or 3 people after each game and tell them how well they played. And try to give 1 or 2 specific examples from that game. I am such a nit-picker during the game, that I hope this is enough.
Anyway, the most important thing that I have learned while being captain is there has to be some sort of committee/brain trust/elder council or something. This may seem clear to you. It was not always so clear to me.
Take my first season as captain of magnUM. We were all relatively new to the game. We tried to get Brian to coach us, but he was not around enough. Damn med school. I was probably not the best guy on the team after our first year, but then I played a ton of summer league + played on Big Ass Truck. So heading into the fall, I was probably the most driven. I had a small taste of winning and I wanted to win more. Most importantly, I had a team that seemed to be heading in the same direction. We all wanted to win more.
That year was somewhat successful. It ended up with us losing to Iowa and Wisconsin on the 2nd day of regionals in AA. That day deserves another blogging-day.
I learned a ton that year, not only as a player, but as a leader. There are 5 lessons that I really learned after that first year (and I forgot when I arrived in Minneapolis and became captain again).
These lessons-
1. Experience + Outside Observers (ie coach) are huge and you need to use these resources as much as possible. Although our strategy was a little more complex then the horse + buggy, we were unable to adapt during games. Not only did it take a more experienced guy to help us out on that 2nd day of regionals, he was also not involved in the game. This was huge and something that benefits the team (Assuming the coach is not a tard).
2. Critical thinking about what happened. Take what you did the previous practice/tourney/scrimmage and try to improve. Now, not a practice or tourney goes by without me without evaluating the team + the structure of frisbee related event. My first year it seemed I often wanted to forgot or just remember the positive things. But to improve, you have to focus on what you believe was negative + help you or the team correct it.
3. Have a group who are comfortable talking to you (maybe this should be more like 1a). This is more for a 1 or 2 captain team. You have to have others who can talk to you and critique what is done. And you have to be willing to listen. ON Zero, we have 4 captains w/ a range of experience/ideas, but we still solicit input from others. If people feel like they can't approach you, you are asking for a revolt.
4. Be the teammate/player that you want others to be. You must lead by example on and off the field. If you do not allow others to have excuses for practice, you can't have them yourself. Captaining w/ Jaeger in 99 was great b/c he was always working to get better. The people who I have captained on Zero the past 3 years have always been those working the hardest at practice, at workouts, and at tourneys. If you are lazily warming up, not participating in drills, or getting beat on d, well.... It makes it harder for your teammates to follow.
5. Say something positive once in awhile. This is the hardest thing for me and it is probably why I keep Charlie around. He is greating at telling people that are playing well. For me, the John Wooden quote of "Always thank the guy who gave you the assist" (or something like that) is huge. It does not always have to be immediately after the play, but we have a break in between scores so it should be soon. I have a rule to myself that I try to talk to 2 or 3 people after each game and tell them how well they played. And try to give 1 or 2 specific examples from that game. I am such a nit-picker during the game, that I hope this is enough.
posted by sometallskinnykid at 10:13 PM
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