The crowd shifts in anticipation while a few people of a large team stand in the corner and offer advice and encouragement to their teammates. Those few people are known to their team and the crowd as the captains, a role that never stops being vital to team sports.
Football games at Granite Bay High School have been a community event since 1996.
Twenty seven years later, the 2023-2024 football captains are Frank Cusano, Broc Daily and Carson Perry-Smith, who are all seniors on the varsity team at Granite Bay High School. Throughout their time being captains, they have experienced what being a leader to their fellow teammates really entails.
When asked how Cusano would describe his leadership style in a few words, he said “lead by example.”
Cusano has experience with leadership in football, given that he was also a captain last year. He talked about the importance of being a good role model on the field, since that’s what the team will want to follow and build off of.
Daily says that “being a good leader and being an accountable teammate…where the team can rely on you to make the right decision on the field (is important).”
Perry-Smith finds that getting emotional when trying to work with the team isn’t the best idea, and, instead, strategizes by “being the one voice of reason that doesn’t get emotionally invested.”
Even though arguments may occasionally occur, the three captains seemed to come to the same consensus about their team: no matter the conflict, the team is family and that’s what matters at the end of the day.
Being a captain isn’t about having power. It’s about bringing together the team.
According to Perry-Smith, the best part of being captain is “knowing your family’s watching and (getting) to walk out with your brothers is always great.”
The selection process for becoming a captain uses input not only from the coaches, but also from the players themselves. The selection of captains also depends upon seniority and experience of the players.
Joseph Cattolico, head coach of the varsity football team, emphasized the need for captains to have communication skills, further confirming what the captains said.
Despite there being three captains on the football team, that doesn’t mean there aren’t roles for the other players to fill. “All of our players have the opportunity to take on leadership roles on the field and in the classroom during the season and throughout the offseason,” Cattolico said.
Reef Lowell was given the opportunity to be a captain for the Del Oro game, and he said the type of motivation he gives his teammates depends on the specific football game. “If it’s a really tough opponent (we will tell the team) that this is going to be a serious game and we need to focus at practice.”
As for the cheer team, the strategies used are similar to those of the football captains. “I’m big (on) communication,” said Jaylin Arnold, captain of the cheer team. Arnold finds that giving everybody a chance to share their thoughts is crucial.
There is good and bad to every situation. One of the hardest parts of being a captain for Arnold is “balancing the role in between coach and teammate…(and not) overstepping the line.”
Captains are somewhat of an authority figure to their teammates, but they’re still part of the team.
A captain should be cautious to avoid abusing their power, and “overstepping the line,” as Arnold put it.
