Football captain

“ The same is true of a football team and its campaign, for the captain is the commander of the eleven and on his ability and on the influence of his personality depends largely whether his team is to emerge from its game in glorious victory or in disappointing defeat.
No player should be selected to act as captain who is not a leader in every sense of the word. He should be a player of the very highest individual ability in the first place, for, if he lacks ability to perform his own part in the play, scant will be the confidence which his men will place in him and his commands. ”

“ Personally, I am very sorry to see this, and if you have at the head one who sets an example of hard work, coolness, and determination, you may be sure that he will do his best to get all he can out of his men. "Example is far better than precept." Now the captain should be the oldest member of a team as a rule, and the one with most experience. ”

“ One caution which has often been uttered but each season seems to need repetition, is this that when the side is playing the captain has absolute control of his men, and is responsible for their formation and play. He should be above favouritism, for in junior clubs the leader has often favourites, and no matter how very able the man may be himself one player does not make a team, and it is necessary to be friendly with all and not be partial to anybody. The game and the ability of each for his particular part in it must be the chief consideration, and I hope that this will ever be so. ”

“ Alexander Tait and Walter Bull, when they were leaders of the 'Spurs, were examples of ability and experience going hand in hand, and they naturally commanded respect. As a rule the captain should decide on the composition of the team and what they should do. If he has an idea he can improve it by giving a few new men a trial, he should inform his committee, who in a small club should always be men who have played and know the game. They, too, must have perfect confidence in the man they have chosen, and allow him a very free hand if they wish to get the best results. ”

“ Again, it is very necessary that a captain should be in a position to be able to point out the errors of each one, so that there may be no resentment. . On the field of play, too, he must feel that he has the support of his men, because it is when they are playing matches that he has great responsibility. ”

“ He should be able at all times to set an example which his comrades must exert themselves to the utmost to follow. His spirit and enthusiasm must be contagious, for the team will play in exactly the fashion in which it is led, and carelessness or indifference in a leader will be mirrored in every movement of his team. The captain must be a perfect judge of human nature and must be able to meet each crisis as it comes with a fearlessness and aggressiveness which will communicate themselves to every member of his team. ”

“ Teeny-bits sat down and a few moments later the balloting began to elect a new captain for the Ridgley team. It was Neil Durant's last year and the big leader of the red eleven, before starting the procedure that would result in the choosing of his successor, said to his team-mates:
"It is our custom, as you all know, to choose a football captain at the dinner following the Jefferson game. It has always been done without nominations—simply by balloting. ”

“ When you’re captain and responsible for the success of the team it’s a lot different, I tell you, Gerald. Why, if Broadwood beats us this fall I’ll feel like tying a dumb-bell to each foot and jumping into the Sound!”
“Don’t be an idiot, Dan! You can’t do any more than your best. If we get beaten after that it won’t be any more your fault than—than mine. ”

“ Teeny-bits followed directions and again and again came down upon the coach and the captain, remembering their instructions to shift, to use his straight arm, to dodge, to change his pace and to exercise every stratagem that differentiates the skilful back-field runner from the novice. He felt that he was learning real football and took each bit of advice that was offered with an intense concentration. ”

“ A competent commander naturally ensures a better system of organization and more ready obedience even among the less tractable members. In any case, though, a captain, whatever his merits for the position, should be an autocrat on the field. He is, or should be, responsible for the behaviour and decorum of his men, and his power while he is in charge of the side should be absolute. A team whose members do not support its chief, but question his actions at the smallest provocation, is altogether wanting in discipline, and lacks one of the great elements of success. ”

“ It is ridiculous for any Captain to assert that he does not know what the men on his team intend doing a month hence. It is his business as Captain to know this. He should know where his players come from, how long they are to be in school, and all about their football experience. If he does not know all this he is a mighty poor Captain, and ought to be replaced. And the Captain who allows a man to play on his eleven whom he suspects of having intentions of leaving school before the year closes is not a fit leader for an honest school's football team, and should likewise be replaced. ”

“ There are a good many people who think that the office of captain is not very important, but my idea is that the judicious choice of a skipper is very great indeed. I have heard it said that the office is an empty honour in a professional club, but I am sure that this is a great mistake, and in an ordinary club as much depends on the leader as all the rest put together. ”

“ With the further weakening of the visiting eleven there is no chance for them longer to hope to win the game. Over and through them the plays travel regularly. Every formation plunges into the line. Our resourceful captain's plan of attack is just versatile enough to prevent anticipation, while still maintaining a uniformity that invariably yields results. From two to four yards and even more are gained on almost every down. ”

“ There was one team a few years ago whose captain used to deliberately place the ball just inside the line on the ground, as though only thoughtlessly leaving it there, and then spring in, crowding the end rusher three or four feet from the touch line, while a running half, who was well started, came tearing up the field, seized the ball, and usually made a long run before he was stopped by the astonished halves. ”

“ So many clubs fail because they have no confidence in their leaders. Ernest Needham, the great leader of the Sheffield United side, has said that when a team is in a winning mood how proud the captain may be, but what a difficult post he has to fill when a team is on the downward grade and losing match after match. The man you choose should have a thorough knowledge of the game, and also enthusiasm and keenness, which should be a standing rebuke to that subtle spirit of slackness which is so characteristic of our men to-day. ”

“ Be loyal to your club and clubmates, and do not forget that enthusiasm is the great thing that will carry you to the front in football as well as in other spheres in life. Unselfishness is also another great point. Should your captain or committee choose another man as your superior, do not grumble, but turn out for the second eleven, and play with all your heart and soul, and if you have the merit you will soon regain your old position in the first team. Above all, play the game fairly and squarely, and you will succeed either as a professional, senior, junior, or amateur. ”

“ Shocked by this remark, the captain, who was one of those thoroughbreds who never saw anything but victory ahead, full of hope and confidence in his team, turned and discovered that the remark came from one of his regular players. Addressing him, he said:
"Well! If you feel that way about it, you need not even put on your suit. I have a substitute, who is game to the core. He will take your place."
It is true that teams have been ruined where the men lack the great quality of optimism in football. ”

“ A good captain will do his spiriting gently. His control of his men is as often as possible the result of the force of his own example, and, like Harry Coverdale, a capable captain has generally a quiet way of settling things, which is effective by the very reason of it. ”

“ Close adhesion to the practice of any game really and sincerely creates fresh possibilities of that perfection and discipline. And why should this not be so in football, particularly as it is a game regulated by sharply-defined maxims? Everyone can't be the captain of an eleven; and as for Wellington's remarks, the most humble member of the team may show the greatest ability. You may belong to the most "swellish" of clubs, and have a fair reputation, but you are not chosen to play in the International. ”

“ How true it is that in one play, or in a practice game, or in a contest against an opposing college, a player has found himself. Do you players of football remember the day you made the team, the day your chance came and you took [Pg 36] advantage of it? At such a time a player shows great possibilities. He is told by the captain to report at the training house for the Varsity signals. ”

“ What better training for the game of life than the acid test of a championship game. Such a test comes not alone to the player but to the coach as well.
"What truer and finer friends can one have than those whom we have met through the medium of football! And finally as the years tend to narrow this precious list, through death, what greater privilege than to associate with the fellow whose muscles are lithe and whose mind is clean. Such a man was Francis H. Burr, captain of the Harvard team in 1908. ”

“ The discipline of the team was rigorous; men were forced to do as they were told. If a man did not think he was in any condition to play he reported to the captain. These reports were very infrequent though, for I know in my own case, the first time I reported, I was so lame I could hardly put one foot before the other, but was told to take a football and run around the track, which was a half mile long and encircled the football field. On my return I was told to get back in my position and play. As a result, there were very few players who reported injuries to the captain. ”

“ What did they care about the ball being fifty yards off? Not a straw, so long as they tackled and kept each other away from it. "That's not football," says one, "it is horse play." "Never mind about football in a Cup Tie," says another, "let the heaviest team win; go into the fellow." "Oh! gentlemen, gentlemen, fie, fie, Association Football is an amateur game, and as long as I play it," said the captain, "there shall be no cruelty done on either side."
Little did the spectators know the real cause of the inordinate tackling done by Bob and Charlie, but the secret soon came out. ”

“ We mean it! Prescott for captain! No other fellow has done as much for Gridley High School football!"
"Then I'll tell you some reasons, fellows, why I don't fit the position," Dick went on, speaking easily now as his self-confidence came to him. "In the first place, I'm a junior, and this is my first year at football. Now, a captain should be a whole wagon-load in the way of judgment. That means a fellow who has played in a previous season. For that reason, all other things being equal, the captain should be one of the seniors who played the gridiron game last year." ”

“ If he has been left out of a side it is perhaps because he is so unselfish that he has not been chosen on every occasion that he might have been, but nature and skill asserted themselves, and he is the unanimous choice of the selectors now. He would rather lose a game than win it by dirty tactics. He is never individual, and always gives the others a chance. To my mind, he is the ideal captain of the day, and everyone who wishes to be successful as a leader should go and watch him. The young player must always remember to keep perfect control over his temper, or he will do very little. ”

“ Second only to the judicious selection and thorough training of a football team is the acquisition of a capable captain, for no matter how well the eleven may be qualified for its work, individually and as a team, its efforts will be barren of success unless the men are ably led on the field. ”

“ Alex Van Rensselaer, an old Princeton football captain, invited Doc Hillebrand to have the Tiger eleven meet him that Saturday morning at the Pennsylvania Ferry slip in Jersey City. En route to West Point that morning this old Princeton leader met us with his steam yacht, The May. Boyhood enthusiasm ran high as we jumped aboard. Good fellowship prevailed. We lunched on board, dressed on board. Upon our arrival at West Point we were met by the Academy representative and were driven to the football field. ”

“ From each team a man detaches himself and, with a man in citizens' clothes, looks over the field. He is the captain and his companion is the coach. He tests the consistency of the surface of the field, notes the direction of the wind, the effects of the sunshine and the other conditions which, if properly observed, will give one side an advantage over the other at some stage in the progress of the game. A couple of wet spots are carefully noted, for in a close game these things may mean victory or defeat. ”