Captains of Spring sports teams came together today to discuss leadership skills with the guidance of CHS Athletic Director Elena DeSantis.

The Captain’s Counsel, a group comprised of captains of Spring sport captains, will meet every other Wednesday during lunch.

“Captain’s Counsel is to get all of the captains of all of the Spring sports teams to talk about the characteristics of a leader,” Katie Newbold, track and field captain, said. “We want to make a positive impact on our teammates and become better leaders ourselves.”

DeSantis showed clips from sports movies in yesterday’s meeting.

“We talked about how we can boost spirit and team morale on our respective teams,” Newbold said. “Ms. DeSantis wants us to become a triple-threat player: someone who improves yourself, the game and the team.”

Team captains are crucial because they make that group of individuals a real team and create a family aspect where everyone is welcome and comfortable, according to swimming captain Bella Kearney.

“As an athlete you are focused on improving yourself, but having the counsel brings into light for me what a difference a captain can actually make,” Kearney said. “I am a role model for people on my team. They actually do look towards us for guidance.”  

Captain’s counsel makes leaders of sports teams realize that they need to implement what they learn into all of their decisions and be more aware of what they need to add to their leadership, according to swimming captain Masha Kozlova.

“We were shown some video examples of poor coaching and captain skills and how to fix this behavior,” Kozlova said. “This helped us realize what not to do and what to do in order to respectfully get your teammates to listen to you.”

It is a good time for captains to come together and talk because they do not necessarily see each other for a long period of time everyday and need to be on the same page for how they want to lead the rest of their teams, according to Newbold.

“I think positivity is really the key because there are going to be losses,” Kearney said. “It’s having the influence to teach your teammates that it isn’t always about the score but how hard you tried.”