This is going to be a wordy post in comparison to the others that I wrote, but hopefully you find it interesting.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about leadership and what makes a good captain for a sports team. Just yesterday, I decided that I would run for captain of my frisbee team, which gave me the opportunity to build off what I wrote here the other day. In my earlier post, I describe the process of running for captain (in short you send an email to the team saying why you’re a good choice). Here is my email to my team:
Deciding to come out the the first week of SCAB practices was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made. It hasn’t even been a whole year yet, but SCAB has offered me a chance to make some friendships that I know will last way past my graduation. Whether it’s writing gushy Instagram posts about my love for Crust, or seeing a picture of myself and Taz get the “meme-treatment” it’s clear that SCAB is a great group of guys who care about each other and want to watch each other succeed.
I’ve played frisbee off and on since 6th grade, and last year was the first time that a team I played on won a major tournament. It was my senior season and we went to High School Westerns in Oregon as a team that few people thought would win. Through the help of a couple stars and overall great teamwork and sheer will to win, we won the tournament. Ultiworld wrote about us and said something like, “Roosevelt shocked the field and won the tournament with two star players and a team of nobody’s.” As one of the many “nobody’s” on the roster, I didn’t get any recognition from the Ultimate community. Not only do I think that it was a blessing to be called a “nobody,” but I have a dream that next year, at about this time, Ultiworld will be writing about my teammates and me in exactly the same way. Next year, we will look at Ultiworld’s website and see a post about us winning Regionals: the headline reads, “Team of Nobody’s Beats Stanford in SW Final, Nationals Next?”
I think we are just a few steps away from being the team to beat in our region. Looking back at some of the games we played in this year, we were incredibly inconsistent. Against Davis at Stanford Open and in the first half against Chico at sectionals, we played some the best ultimate I’ve ever seen. Then, suddenly we’d play like we did in that game against USC. If we want to be a team that is feared by other teams in our region, we need to change the way we approach practices. In my opinion practice is where everything starts. This isn’t to say that we can’t have fun, that’s the real reason why we play sports. However, if we come to practice with the mentality that we will beat whoever that’s guarding us, I think we will become a much better team.
It’s been said over and over this year, but when we compare our roster with anyone else’s in our region, not only are we one of the most complete teams, but I think we are the most athletic team. Regardless of whichever group of 7 people we put on a line, I know that we have the athletic ability to beat the other 7. All we’re missing is the right technical skills and mental strength, which we can learn at practice. We’re very close, and with a good practice plan like the other potential captains have mentioned in their emails, we will be an amazing team this time next year.
Lastly, I realize that as a sophomore I will be one of the younger players on the team. However, I know that I will give my complete effort and attention to practices and make the success of SCAB my ultimate priority (Pun intended). I believe this is the type of commitment that we are looking for in a leader and that is why I would be honored to captain you all next year.