Captains

The captain is the leader of  the team and wears a  “C” on his or her jersey.  Captains are usually the natural leader of a group - frequently the individual who organized the team in the first place.  Since the captain’s job entails a lot of responsibility and time commitment, a team may decide to rotate the job or elect a new captain every few years.

Captains are usually the league’s contact person.  The captain will decide what position each player will play.  The captain needs to assure that everyone gets a fair amount of playing time.  They also need to make sure enough players attend each game to have a relatively full team.   If there is a dispute about a penalty called by the referee, it is the captain’s responsibility to discuss it with the official.  And if the team needs a pep talk, that’s the captain’s job too!

The captain should consider several things before each game (1) what are the lines and who is playing defense (2) what will you do if someone is in the penalty box (play only defensemen or the position that was penalized sits?) (3) what kind of pre-game warm-up is the team going to do?  (4) what goals should the team have for the game?  25 shots?  Aggressive forechecking?  Good back checking?  Stay out of the penalty box?

These are some things for the captain to consider.  Players feel much more comfortable if the captain is handling these details -  then they can focus on their game.

The captain is also the role model for the other players and the team.  If you have a captain that spends most of the game in the penalty box, you may want to think more about whether that player is a good choice for captain.  The captain does not need to be the best player on the team, but they should be someone who is respected and listened to.

A final note.  Assistant captains are a good idea--but co-captains are a bad idea.  I once played on a team that had co-captains and they were constantly fighting over who was the leader and who was in control of the team--Mark.