I think this thread begs the question - "At what age and level of play is a permanent team captain a good idea?"
05 Boys are in 7th/8th grade. A "fun" age for any gender. You start to see "Alpha" personalities and bullying become a little more pronounced. And if a coach picks the captain, you may get whispers of "that kid is his favorite. I don't know why. He's not that great." (both from players and parents).
My 07 daughter was picked to be her teams captain last year. I was not in favor of making a 10 year girl a "captain." She's a bit bossy and more aggressive than the rest on her team. She was new to the team last year. A girl who had been on the team for a few years (who is a great player) was bummed out and cried that she wasn't a captain. Coach wound up naming both of them as captains for the year. We had to really try to teach her how to try and lead in a positive way with actions and not words. She wasn't ready for it. And her teammates weren't ready to be yelled at by a friend.
And I don't think a "team vote" on captains prior to high school is correct either. It becomes a popularity contest and can cause division among the team.
Not sure on boys. They probably have less sensitivity on this kind of thing. But I do think it is a team-by-team basis on naming permanent captains.
(I was named team captain of our school ski team back in high school. My first year on the team as a junior. A kid who had been on the team since his freshman year and now a senior was really upset that he didn't get named. He couldn't ski his way out of a paper bag and was a bit shy. I told him he could have it. I just wanted to get a chance to ski every day after school).
05 Boys are in 7th/8th grade. A "fun" age for any gender. You start to see "Alpha" personalities and bullying become a little more pronounced. And if a coach picks the captain, you may get whispers of "that kid is his favorite. I don't know why. He's not that great." (both from players and parents).
My 07 daughter was picked to be her teams captain last year. I was not in favor of making a 10 year girl a "captain." She's a bit bossy and more aggressive than the rest on her team. She was new to the team last year. A girl who had been on the team for a few years (who is a great player) was bummed out and cried that she wasn't a captain. Coach wound up naming both of them as captains for the year. We had to really try to teach her how to try and lead in a positive way with actions and not words. She wasn't ready for it. And her teammates weren't ready to be yelled at by a friend.
And I don't think a "team vote" on captains prior to high school is correct either. It becomes a popularity contest and can cause division among the team.
Not sure on boys. They probably have less sensitivity on this kind of thing. But I do think it is a team-by-team basis on naming permanent captains.
(I was named team captain of our school ski team back in high school. My first year on the team as a junior. A kid who had been on the team since his freshman year and now a senior was really upset that he didn't get named. He couldn't ski his way out of a paper bag and was a bit shy. I told him he could have it. I just wanted to get a chance to ski every day after school).
