Closer to the heart

What makes a great captain? Is it a popularity contest? No, not in my book. It takes heart. Mark Messier was a great captain. He lead his team with heart. You need someone who will give 110% for the team, 110% for the game. Someone who everyone can look to when the chips are down, and still see them push on - a leader on the ice and off. Someone who appreciates the win and loves the game.This doesn’t mean that the coach should put the weight of the world on their shoulders.The captain must display true sportmanship and a strong work ethic.When you look for someone to wear the C look for someone with a lot of heart. Some teams put the C on the highest goal scorer, and sometimes that may be the player with the most heart. If you’re lucky you’ll have a tough choice. A whole team made up of players who could be the captain would be quite the team. For younger levels that are still learnning basic leadership and sportsmanship I rotate the captains. At some point you need to have a team captain. The captains will sometimes communicate for you to the refs, so they should be able to relay the message clearly and respectfully to the official. I have the captains lead warm up drills, and I expect the team to follow their lead. Hopefully you will have other players on the team who don’t wear a C, but are still leaders. Of Course Bobby Orr was my hero, and he never wore a C durring the Bruins regular season, he wore the A. I have a whole team full of Alternate captains this year. Leadership, work ethic, and sportsmanship doesn’t stop outside the rink or off the Lacrosse field. These are qualities your players should display in school, work,…….…life.