Many high schools have vastly different sports but one thing these sports all have in common is the role of the captains on these teams. 

Although every sport varies in the number of captains on the team, ranging anywhere from one to five, the impact the captain(s) have on the team is similar through all sports. 

“As captain, I feel a responsibility to lead by example,” girls volleyball captain Serena Xu said. “I give maximum effort at every practice and I always push my teammates to be the best possible versions of themselves.”

To some, captains are simply the people leading the practices. But to other members of the team, the captains are some of their closest friends and role models. 

“I look up to all the seniors and captains on field hockey,” junior Katherine Yi said. “Not only are they great players but they’re also great people and they help me out by giving me advice on both my daily life and tips to improve my game.”

Duties of captains include leading practices, coordinating team bonding events and helping hype the team up for big events. Captains do not take these jobs lightly; they know a team’s strong chemistry is vital to its success. 

“I always try to hype the team up before big games because I think it has a big impact on the attitude of the players going into the game and can make a difference in the outcome of the game,” field hockey captain Robyn Peterson said. 

But the captain’s role goes beyond just making sure the team has a successful season. As the oldest, and usually most experienced members of the team, they carry the role of making sure each member of the team feels included and making sure newcomers feel like they are being easily integrated into the team.  

“I always make a special effort to reach out to the freshmen on the team,” Xu said. “Being a freshman on varsity with mostly upperclassmen can be really intimidating and it’s really easy for them to feel excluded.”

The bonds and successes of the team are often a reflection on the efforts put in by the captain(s). 

“The captains definitely have a big impact on how welcoming the environment on the team is,” Yi said. “They were all so nice to me when I first joined the team and now I consider them some of my good friends.”