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Captains Clinics

The Spring 2008 schedule includes Captains Clinics at:

• Blue Water Area Conference at Yale High School on February 19
• Metro Conference at Holiday Resorts (Southfield) on April 7
• Capital Area Activities Conference at East Lansing High School on April 18
• Michigan Mega Conference at Allen Park High School on April 22
• Kalamazoo Valley Association at KRESA on April 28

The MHSAA works closely with the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University to provide pertinent curriculum that is geared toward developing leadership skills for current and future team captains.  Topics at each clinic include (but are not limited to):

• The Role of a Team Captain
• Team Building
• Motivating Your Team
• Communicating With Coaches

The MHSAA is always looking for leagues & conferences that wish to host a Captains Clinic. Most of the work to set up the clinics is performed by MHSAA staff members.  We coordinate the registration process, book facilities, provide the curriculum and supplies, work with the caterers, and bring facilitators to the clinic.  We do, however, need league & conference help in three important areas:

1. Suggest possible sites to hold the conference – you know your area better than we do.
2. Work with schools in your league to determine the best date or dates for a clinic.
3. Make sure all of your league’s schools are willing and available to participate in the clinic.

That’s all you need to do – we do the rest.  Contact Andy Frushour (afrushour@mhsaa.com) or Andi Osters (aosters@mhsaa.com) ASAP if you are interested in bringing this program to your league’s student-athletes – (517) 332-5046.

Past Captain’s Clinics Participants

Captains Clinics – Frequently Asked Questions

What topics are covered during the clinic?
Topics at each clinic include, but are not limited to, the role of a team captain, team building, motivating teammates, and communicating with teammates and coaches. Each clinic also ends with an action plan session where each student delegation creates a captains resource guide for all of the school’s team captains.

What is the format of the clinic?
The clinic starts with a large group workshop, and then moves to three smaller breakout sessions until lunch.  After an on-site lunch, students reconvene as a large group to develop a captain's resource guide with schoolmates. 

When time does the clinic start and finish?
Each clinic starts at 9:00 a.m. and finishes by 1:30 p.m.  Clinics are held Monday through Friday.
 
What is the cost?
A $20 per person registration fee is typically enough to cover supplies, rental costs, food expenses, and facilitator fees.

Who is the target audience?
This clinic is targeted to sophomore and juniors who have been or likely will be varsity team captains. 

What schools are invited to the clinic?
Clinics are geared to schools within a single league or conference.  We ask that there be a minimum of 8 participating schools and at least 75 students, although we can handle up to about 300 students. 

Are student participants given the chance to interact with peers from other schools?
Some of the best outcomes of the clinic are the inter-school relationships built throughout the day.  The clinic encourages interaction among all students in attendance, as students will be separated from their own school group, giving them the chance to interact with students from rival schools.  It is a perfect way for athletes to meet each other off-the-court before competing on-the-court.

How many student-athletes can attend?
The number of attendees per school depends on the size of the facility and the number of schools planning to attend.  In general, though, schools can typically bring 8-10 students and administrators.

Who facilitates the breakout sessions?
The MHSAA worked with Michigan State University’s Youth Sports Institute to develop the Captains Clinic curriculum.  The opening and closing sessions are led by MHSAA staff, while the breakout sessions are led by graduate and doctoral students from the Institute.

What is the role of the administrators and coaches at the event?
Adults are welcomed and encouraged to participate in each of the sessions.  In fact, administrators are very helpful to the students when completing the end of the day project.

What kinds of facilities can host this clinic?
We’ve held Captains Clinic in schools, hotels and banquet centers.  We can be very flexible.  Ultimately, all we need is a room that can accommodate all the students at one time for the opening & closing sessions and lunch, and enough breakout rooms to hold 25-30 students each.  If we use a school, we prefer to be in the school when students are NOT in session (like an in-service day).

We hosted a clinic before, can we host again?
Absolutely you can host again.  The format and program was brand new in fall 2007 and likely much different than the programming you previously received.  In addition, you will likely have a different group of students this time around.

 

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