Ultimate Teammate, Ultimate Captain
October 1, 2012
By Jed Blanton
MSU Institute for the Study of Youth Sports
What does it mean to be a team captain?
When I was in high school, our team captain was the best runner. There was no vote, no question. The best runner after the team time trial took over for the year. They led stretches, told the freshmen what to do, and did their best to stay in front of the pack.
And that’s what I did when I emerged first in our time trial. It was my team and my season now. The position was a status, a marker of my dominance, and a free pass to be a jerk. And I did it well.
When I went to college on a cross country scholarship, I was at the bottom of the totem pole again, and was nervous about how my captains would treat me and what a year it would be adjusting to college training and racing … while carrying the water and catering to our top runners. I wanted to be the fastest, so that it would be my team.
But in college, the team voted for our captains, and along with our coaches’ consensus, a leader was chosen. It wasn’t the best runner. Our team time trial had nothing to do with it. In fact, our women’s team captain didn’t even score for our team.
I asked one of the seniors, and one of the fastest runners, why these people had been chosen when there were several people faster. They answered simply, “They earned it, I respect them, and don’t mind being told what to do by them.”
I learned throughout the course of the year that the captain of this team had a lot to do, far more than I had ever done in high school ... when I thought I knew how to be a great captain.
When I earned the captain’s position on my college team my senior year, after a less-motivated try at captaincy my junior year, I had a completely different outlook on what needed to happen. For one, I wasn’t the fastest on the team anymore. An injury had prevented me from a successful offseason training regimen. But it was a new role and new challenge that I decided to have some fun and make my senior year memorable. But how could I make my team successful, even if it wasn’t by running fast?
That year I spent more time with the freshmen than I ever had, even more than when I was a freshman myself. I went to the dining halls, and invited them to my house for dinner. I went running with them on the weekends, and didn’t mind not being with the fastest guys on the team. I took an interest in our women’s team and how its training and experience was going. I went to study hall, which was an enforced weekly gathering for freshmen and anyone with lower than a 3.0 grade-point average, although I was about to graduate with honors and had twice been named “major of the year” in my department. I learned that being a captain was not a prize reserved for one person to selfishly hold. Being a captain meant being the ultimate teammate.
Since my college cross country days, I’ve spent the last six years in graduate school, researching and studying team captains. I’ve learned more about the position than I ever thought possible, but nothing I’ve read or discovered has been as powerful as seeing what it’s like to be respected as a captain. I keep in touch with far more teammates from my senior season than I do with anyone who graduated before me. Being a captain is far more than a title; it’s a calling. I whole-heartedly believe that anyone can become a great captain. They are made, not born. The difference is those who want it and those who don’t. Earning the captaincy position is not a status symbol, it’s not a recognition; it’s a job with a long task list.
The best captains I’ve met are the most organized, and also the most caring teammates. Placing the team before themselves is not the cliché; it is expected. And while I never was busier as an athlete than my senior year of college, I’ve never appreciated any other athletic achievement more than the friendships I made and the experiences I had leading my team through our season.
Blanton is a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University in the department of Kinesiology, specializing in the PsychoSocial Aspects of Sport and Physical Activity, and a research assistant for MSU's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. He has served as a facilitator at MHSAA Captains Clinics the last three years and currently is assisting the association with its student leadership programs.
Century of School Sports: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 10, 2024
This Friday, December 13, 2024, the Michigan High School Athletic Association will commemorate its 100th anniversary, a special day selected from a milestone school year as the MHSAA continues to celebrate a “Century of School Sports.”
But why December 13?
Short answer: On that day, the first Representative Council of the newly-formed MHSAA met for the first time.
Longer explanation: The MHSAA’s predecessor – the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association – had provided oversight of school athletics from 1909-24, and adjourned its final annual meeting Dec. 5, 1924. The reasons for the end of the MIAA and formation of the MHSAA are fascinating on their own, and we’ll cover that at a later date.
But as for this important date we are discussing this week:
- At the end of the MIAA, all that remained was a committee elected to represent various sections of the state and various sizes and types of schools during the transition – a 12-member Representative Council.
- Prior to the MIAA’s conclusion, a basketball rules interpretation meeting had been scheduled and publicized for Saturday, Dec. 13, 1924, in Ann Arbor. Several athletic directors, basketball coaches and officials were expected to attend, and it was decided to also conduct the first meeting of the Representative Council that day as well.
- The Council meeting was held at the Michigan Union. Ten of 12 Council members were present, with the board including representatives from multiple regions and both peninsulas, schools large and small, public and nonpublic; junior high schools and the state department of education, and with expertise in physical education, administration and coaching – in essence, the same mix that makes up much of the Council a century later.
- Officers were elected, funds were transferred from the former MIAAA to the new MHSAA, a committee was appointed to begin discussing policies for junior high sports as they had begun to emerge, and the first Executive Committee – then known as the “Committee on Appeals” was formed to consider appeals of eligibility decisions made by the state director. The 1925 MHSAA Basketball Tournament was discussed and a committee formed to work toward those arrangements. Finally, a football eligibility situation was considered and a member school suspended, to be reinstated two months later after satisfying a series of conditions to make restitution for the use of ineligible players.
And the rest is history, with more made every year.
To commemorate this 100th anniversary, the MHSAA has received tributes from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, and the Michigan Legislature signed as well by Sen. Sam Singh and Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou from the MHSAA office’s legislative districts.
The gubernatorial declaration states in part, “We honor the MHSAA’s rich legacy and the countless athletes, coaches, and volunteers who have contributed to the success of Michigan high school sports. The MHSAA’s commitment to enhancing the lives of student-athletes and strengthening communities across the state is truly remarkable.”
The legislature’s proclamation adds, “May this day serve as a testament to the MHSAA’s remarkable achievements and its enduring commitment to the advancement of high school athletics and the well-being of student-athletes across Michigan.”
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council - Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTOS At left, gubernatorial and legislative commemorations recognize the MHSAA's 100th anniversary. At middle, the book "Athletics in Michigan High Schools - The First Hundred Years" is opened to the chapter introducing the early days of the MHSAA.