Definitely a little bit of a mystery on why certain kids are chosen. Several were not really committed swimmers but had spirit. I understood selecting them. However, several of our high school captains seemed to be siblings of current/outgoing captains and not really the nice kids who were the most dedicated to the team. They were too cool to really interact with most of the team.
We were sad to see our otherwise great coach choose the kids who just used the spot as permission to yell and hold center stage instead of getting to know all the swimmers. There were definitely better swimmers who really cared about the team and they couldn’t help but feel pushed aside.
I think in the end, club swimmers who are passed up for captain spots just focus on their own performance more and don’t get caught up in the theatrics of the captain spots.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was a captain her senior year. Definitely not a popularity contest at her school. There were 4 (2 girls and 2 boys). All were pretty serious club swimmers. It was a no cut sport and welcoming to all. Most of the team knew each other for years through swim and school. Not Whitman. Arlington County.

As a parent of serious club swimmers, I actually think the non-club swimmers should definitely be captains as well.

Agree, but at our HS a lot of the non-club swimmers who don't make the post-season don't attend the post-season meets. If they want to be captain, they should be attending and cheering starting in 9th grade.

Our captain blew off the championship meets since wasn't swimming.The whole situation was demoralizing for the others.

Anonymous wrote:Half of the captains selected at Whitman HS this year probably won't even make team tryout. Is this a joke? How do other HS teams handle this?

Popularity contest at most schools, not a leadership thing.

This is too complicated a subject to make sweeping generalizations. I have kids on many HS teams who play multiple sports. I have seen teams where captains don’t start (or make championship meets) yet they are leaders for what they do to organize and motivate kids at practice and team events and competitions. I have seen starters who are terrible captains bc they only focus on their own performance. I have seen brilliant athletes who make great captains bc they also get the spirit and mundane tasks of hauling water coolers etc. I have seen quiet athletic captains be great role models bc of attitude and performance, which ends up being more than enough. It is going to be team specific and coach specific in terms of what balance your program needs. We also don’t see it all and probably have no idea what really goes down on the daily. Best that we as parents stay out of it and trust the process to be a worthwhile learning experience whatever way it looks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was a captain her senior year. Definitely not a popularity contest at her school. There were 4 (2 girls and 2 boys). All were pretty serious club swimmers. It was a no cut sport and welcoming to all. Most of the team knew each other for years through swim and school. Not Whitman. Arlington County.

As a parent of serious club swimmers, I actually think the non-club swimmers should definitely be captains as well.

Agree, but at our HS a lot of the non-club swimmers who don't make the post-season don't attend the post-season meets. If they want to be captain, they should be attending and cheering starting in 9th grade.

I think the real question is what entails a captainship on a HS swim team. No body here denies that a captain should have leadership quality. But, to me, a captain must be a swimmer first who regularly makes the lineup. SGA can be a venue for a nonswimmer to demonstrate the leadership.
So many times I see at HS swim meets captains don't swim at all but snap pictures on the deck to post on their Instagram while swimmers swim their guts out to win points for the team yet not recognized as captains. How disheartening it is.
Yes, cheerleading is good for the team spirit. But most teams have one spirit captain to cover that.

+1. can't imagine name dropping someone like that. childish

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is the announcement? I know last year it was bad at Whitman. Then coach admitted almost everyone after tryout, just to make kids who didn't make the team captains. She was fired for another scandal at the season end.

Was this Theresa?

The original post and now this are pretty uncool - given that there are only a handful of captains it's essentially identifying kids, and now the previous coach has been named. OP, you may want to consider the root of what compelled you to post. I'm operating under the assumption that you're a parent, but it's possible you're a student. Either way, consider your goals here and perhaps channel that energy elsewhere. It's pretty juvenile.

Anonymous wrote:Where is the announcement? I know last year it was bad at Whitman. Then coach admitted almost everyone after tryout, just to make kids who didn't make the team captains. She was fired for another scandal at the season end.

Was this Theresa?