club captains

[fatfish]

how do u pick ur club captains

[mammamedley]

At one club I know well they put a form on the notice board. Swimmers write down the name of whom they would like to be captain. The form is then discussed by the committee and coach and a captain is chosen.

[fatfish]

ohh coz we've just had our club captains choosen even though no swimmer input was done, i just think that they made the wrong choice and i know alot of other people do to

[Goon]

Club Captains in my experience are better chosen by the coach; as in every other sport. Open election processes are a bit of a nonsense, especially when unsuitable, disruptive swimmers are chosen who use their position as an axe to grind about things they don't like. Who wants to have a captain wanting to punch someones (Ausiebabe's) lights out Kicky. Your attitude shows up here. Sort yourself out and people at your club might notice you for the right reasons.

[fatfish]

excuse me... who is kicky and whats she got do to with my question on club captains, she might be a nice person... i do actually now she is

[kick_ya]

why did u unregistar my name??? ta claire nice to know who ur mates r isnt it, i dont wanna fight anyway i wouldnt want to waste my energy

[BigFish]

How functional is that IP logging thing, Chris?

I agree that club captains should be chosen by the coaches. Otherwise you'll end up with the kid with the attitude being elected, and the whole point of having a captain will be lost.

------------------
David Cuthbert (www.dartes.co.uk)
news@DaveC.org.uk

[This message has been edited by BigFish (edited 09 March 2001).]

[matt]

We don't have Club Captains at Barracudas. Guernsey SC, tigers and Jersey SC all have their own captains I think.

However, I don't think that it is a required thing for a club to have a captain. It seems to work ok for us.

[Natasha]

My clubs don't have captains either. But I don't think that having nominations put in by swimmers is a bad thing. There would always be a slight risk that 'the swimmer with the attitude' would get chosen, but there are also swimmers with sense enough to make the right choice as to who would be a good captain.

[matt]

but with nominations from swimmers would you include the younger people within the club eg 11yr olds?

[Natasha]

Well I think that the nominations from the younger swimmers would count as well. Though I can only refer to swimmers from the two clubs I train at, and I think that perhaps the 11years+ would be sensible enough to make their own nomination.

[stevenewman1]

In my humble opinion Club Captains should be chosen by the Coaches and Team Managers. They should have qualities such as maturity, ability to communicate (between swimmers and coaches and vice versa), enthusiasm, a good swimmer (not necessarily the best) and a role model to all the other swimmers. Their behaviour should be exemplery and they should see it as a honour to be the Captain (we even have Vice Captains).

Anyone who has a Captains role should regard it as an honour and realise that they are learning another important life skill.

If a swimmer does not want to be Captain then they should not be chosen.

[matt]

I think that the most important part of what steve just said is the part about being able to communicate and set an example to other swimmers. However, I think that with communication it should be looked at who can talk to the younger swimmers who are just entering the competition scene because this is going to be the time when they need the encouragement for example if they don't swim as well as would have liked to etc. I mean there are many young swimmers who give it a go for about a year but then give up swimming because they can't be bothered with being beaten all the time because they feel they aren't getting anywhere (what could have been has gone) + it is at a time when they are changing schools etc.

The captain should be able to talk to them about it and explain that not everyone is amazing to begin with, they need time to develop and get stronger. So they should stick with it.

I don't think there are many senior swimmers at our club/both Gsy clubs who talk to the juniors enough.

When I was about 12 I remember how none(ok a few did, I can think of 2) of the older ones spoke to us or even cheered for us whilst we were swimming and loads of the younger people cheered for them even though they weren't the ones who needed the cheering. All the parents commented on this and I have had parents tell me recently how much of a difference it makes for the swimmers, the parents and the club seeing the seniors cheering on the juniors.
In fact yesterday, I was told how nice it was to see the seniors at a Halloween party which had a lot of the younger swimmers there, especially when they spoke to them and played games etc with them.

Sorry that was a bit long but I guess a little bit of support can go a long way.

[matt]

I wish it was that easy to type up homework

[rubber ducky]

Our club, although small, has male and female junior captains and vices and male and female senior captains plus vices!! A total of 8!

All captains are elected by the swimmers, we vote for who we want. However because our club is small its not the swimmers with attitude that get it, it is the good swimmers, the well known members and the ones who deserve it that get elected. (Can you tell I was captain for 2 yrs and am now vice?!!? hehe)

We change our captains yearly at the presentation evening. Our captains don't actually do that much....we encourage the younger swimmers, look after them etc but apart from collecting the odd trophy we win at galas, that is about it....still knowing your captain is pretty cool!

[matt]

Our captains don't actually do that much....

That's exactly the same as being a house captain at our school. I don't have to do a lot apart from wear a green badge with 'house captain' on it. I'm pretty sure not many people lower down the school actually know who I am, the only other thing I possibly have to do is collect a trophy in assembly...........I meant to add that in the above post

Is anyone doing Maths resits this month?

[rubber ducky]

[QUOTE=matt] However, I think that with communication it should be looked at who can talk to the younger swimmers who are just entering the competition scene because this is going to be the time when they need the encouragement QUOTE]

I completely agree. There are only a few people in my club who can say they give full support to the team at galas. Myself and the coaches younger son are almost always at the end of the lane cheering on the swimmers, young and old alike. But definitely the younger ones...they do need the encouragement and they look up to us older ones so much.

So many of the younger swimmers in my club will tell me they wish they were as fast as me or that they wish they could swim like me and thats when you have to be there to tell them that they will be as good as you are, and they get confidence in what you are saying by you helping them in racing, and training.

In a race situation I have seen the physical difference in a swimmers swim just becuase of a couple of people at the end of the lane.....you cheer them on a backstroke turn when they can see you and you can visibly see them find a little more energy to put into the swim. This is because they realise you are believing in them and in their ability to win. :) makes you feel good when someone cheers and believes in you!

:cool:

[No Fear!!]

Our captains are nominated and then voted for. girls can vote for girls and boys for boys. You have to be 15 to be nominated though!

[No Fear!!]

Many younger swimmers also enjoy cheering on the team from the end of the lane. It is great if the club captains get as many people at the end of the lane. After all most swimmers like if they're cheered on so thats how they should treat others!

[Katie]

I think the situation at our club is much better than it used to be. I remember, like Matt, that none of the older ones used to bother with us when I was between 8 and about 14, but now everyone makes a real effort to get to know one another and it makes really great team spirit! I am interested in how the younger ones get on as they are the future of the club, and if you don't show your interest it's difficult to get to know swimmers other than those in your club. I think it makes a much more friendly atmosphere at the club!

[mad4it]

At big team meets we used to have a buddy system where an older swimmer and a younger swimmer would get paired together for the whole meet. They had to find out each others results as well as 3 personal facts (i.e. favourite food,pets etc). We'd all be quizzed at the team talk at night and it was always funny to see who hadn't remembered to find anything out and just made up random things! ;). But we never did it this year, and it seemed to me that there was a much bigger divide between the two age groups and it doesn't help when they are competing at different times in the day, open in the morning and age group in the afternoon so there was no real team support apart in finals session.
Team Captains are a good idea however we only have them for competitions, they don't seem to have anything to do tho as no-one ever would go to them if something was wrong, thats just not "cool".
School captains are different tho i feel because, well at my old school anyway, they had duties to do everyday and frequently visited 1st year classes to make sure everyone was integrating well and set up peer support groups, drama groups, extra p.e lessons, and did work in the canteen/diner at lunchtimes and generally all around the school.

[chlorine_babe]

We don't have club captains and I don't thinnk we actually need them For the most part everyone gets on well and the different squads mix which is a major problem in some clubs I know where people from one squad won't talk to people in other squads because they are beneath them. Generally the older swimmers cheer for the younger ones but i think it's the 15 year olds or there abouts that seem to have most enthusism.

[H2o]

We have Club Captains hwo are chosen by the Head Coach.How he arrives at his decision I don't know, I generally agree with it, but not allways!
The key word is definitely communication......we have had some great Captains in the past who spoke to everyone both young, old, swimmers, parents etc.

Nowadays unfortuantely a lot of our older swimmers wouldn't have a clue who the littles one were, and frankly they couldn't seem to care less. Most of them (but not all) do nothing on poolside at galas except chat each other up and play on mobile phone (which I aim to get banned on poolside VERY soon!)

Its generally the 14 and under age bracket that help out, cheer on, loan hats/goggles etc. My own 13 year old, screams and shouts for everyone and knows them all by name and if she doesn't she makes a point of finding out, but then the's very outgoing and confident. We have other 13 year olds that wouldn't say boo to a ghost and would be horrified if I asked them to actually talk to a little one.

[FlyingBean]

I think that the most important part of what steve just said is the part about being able to communicate and set an example to other swimmers. However, I think that with communication it should be looked at who can talk to the younger swimmers who are just entering the competition scene because this is going to be the time when they need the encouragement for example if they don't swim as well as would have liked to etc. I mean there are many young swimmers who give it a go for about a year but then give up swimming because they can't be bothered with being beaten all the time because they feel they aren't getting anywhere (what could have been has gone) + it is at a time when they are changing schools etc.

The captain should be able to talk to them about it and explain that not everyone is amazing to begin with, they need time to develop and get stronger. So they should stick with it.

I don't think there are many senior swimmers at our club/both Gsy clubs who talk to the juniors enough.

When I was about 12 I remember how none(ok a few did, I can think of 2) of the older ones spoke to us or even cheered for us whilst we were swimming and loads of the younger people cheered for them even though they weren't the ones who needed the cheering. All the parents commented on this and I have had parents tell me recently how much of a difference it makes for the swimmers, the parents and the club seeing the seniors cheering on the juniors.
In fact yesterday, I was told how nice it was to see the seniors at a Halloween party which had a lot of the younger swimmers there, especially when they spoke to them and played games etc with them.

Sorry that was a bit long but I guess a little bit of support can go a long way.
I'd never thought about it in that way before, but you're absolutely right Matt. The approach you suggest would benefit the club, the captain (in terms of development) and the swimmers affected.

I think the coaching staff should select captains, but there is a risk that someone could be selected for the wrong reason (the individual may be a personal favourite of the coach) rather than for the set of skills that Steve mentioned.

[FlyingBean]

Maybe there is another question amongst all this. As well as defining the ideal skill set that a captain should possess, is there an ideal 'role description'. It seems that the term captain means different things to different people/clubs. How is the individual to know whether or not they have done a good job if they don't know what people expect of them?
:idea:

[KatieBun]

I'd never thought about it in that way before, but you're absolutely right Matt. The approach you suggest would benefit the club, the captain (in terms of development) and the swimmers affected.

I think the coaching staff should select captains, but there is a risk that someone could be selected for the wrong reason (the individual may be a personal favourite of the coach) rather than for the set of skills that Steve mentioned.
Our swimmers vote for their junior and senior club captains but often say, "Who's he/she?" when given the ballot paper. I often think that, if the voters don't even know who the candidate is, that person hasn't made themselves useful to the younger swimmers and shouldn't be a club captain. I totally agree with you Matt, and with yourself, FB.

[Ivor]

In my opinion the only effective way to select a club captain is to settle the matter in a fist fight.

Good old Queensbury rules, that's the way.

We have used a good old-fashioned fight to select our captains for years and no-one has ever complained.

[tinie]

our captins are chosen by our coaches. we hav club which are the older memebers well 17/18/19 year olds but we alos hav junior captians aswell for our junior galas and things again there selected by our coaches. but if the club captins arent at the gala then it usualy the olest ones there

[KJ89]

spelt junior lol we have our captains chosen by our coaches but we only have 1 lot of captains and vice captains no juniors

[rubber ducky]

When our captains get elected we dont have any specific nominations put forward by our coach. We get a sheet of paper and we have to write who we want for senior and junior male and female captains....then obviously the most votes wins. Being such a small club its mostly the same people nominated each year.

And as for knowing swimmers......I know all the club I like to think and I know and regularly speak to their parents! But then we are more like a big family than a swimming club.