Sports captains

story by Kelby Dressler

Being the captain of a high school sports team isn’t easy. The experienced athletes face high expectations from their coaches and teammates. These student leaders have to make sure that each athlete works to preserve the team’s reputation, shows up at every practice, and remembers to have fun during their event.

“People trust you, people are looking up to you,” said Kayla Maples, Sr.

Kennedy Shockley and Kayla Maples, Srs., are co-captains of the volleyball team. Maples states that when the team is not playing, she works behind the scenes to make sure that everyone is on time and following the rules. During the game, if the team is losing, the captains are expected to call a huddle and talk to everyone.

“You know when the team gets down, they bring us all together and help lift our spirits up,” said Riley Foltz, Soph.

Coach Phil Katzenmeier said that his football team doesn’t have “team captains”.

“Informal leadership may be a good way of saying it,” Katzenmeier said, “I rotate captains randomly for the coin flip at the beginning of each game.”

Seniors on the football team all share similar responsibilities. They make sure every player attends practices Monday through Saturday and makes the commitment to the summer weights program.

Ryan Verbanic, Sr., enjoys the responsibility of getting calls and making sure everyone knows who they are blocking.

“I want to lead the team to victory like I was lead to victory. I know what it takes to win,” Verbanic said.

Gavin Elston, Soph., thinks that a good captain should be able to lead the team and be willing to compete even when losing.

“Most of our team is still young and they should be in control too,” Elston said.

Cheerleaders Angel Garrett, Jr., and Addison Hinds, Sr., are in charge of calling chants and making sure everything goes smoothly, not only during a game but also at practice. In addition, they are also in charge of running practices and being the coach’s “right-hand man”.

Abby Reynolds, cheer coach, believes that team captains are an important part of team morale.

“A captain should be able to lead practices or meetings, to “hype” up the team as the EHS Cheerleaders would say,” said Reynolds.

Angel Garrett says that coach Abby has influenced her to become a better cheerleader and made her enjoy cheer even more than she already did.

“It’s about being the best leader you can be, your class shouldn’t matter,”

said Angel Garrett, Jr.