Captains Expectations

We all like to play volleyball and have a good time, but if you stop to think about it, that usually only happens on teams that are well run.  Being a team captain in this league is about fielding a competitive team and then motivating, inspiring and leading your team to the big victory!  Towards that end, here is a summary of what future team captains should expect.

Before we get into expectations, there are some key principles that all players (captains included) should try to remember:

• All players in this league signed up to have fun.
  
  
• Fun means being treated equally and feeling like you are a welcome contributor to your team – being appreciated for the skills and effort you bring and getting to play at an appropriate level, ideally on a competitive team.
  
  
• Players who are not having fun will eventually stop playing in BSD, so it is fundamental that we as a league and you as a team captain work to provide everyone a fun experience.

Now on to the details!

Who Should Be a Captain?

• The BSD League generally prefers captains who have played at least the previous season in the same division.  Sometimes this rule is waived if the league is having difficulty fielding enough captains for a division.
  
  
• You don’t need to be the most experienced or best player to be a successful captain.  You can draw upon commissioners and other captains for help during the draft and you can draw upon your teammates for their input on lineups and strategy.  It can take a while for a new captain to feel completely comfortable handling all aspects of the position on his/her own.

Plan Ahead

The best way to field a competitive team is to draft a good combination of skills, athleticism and personalities.  How do you do that?

• If you are new to the league or new to being a captain, ask for information on how the player draft is handled.
  
  
• Please keep in mind – we all like to play with our friends, but it’s seldom fun to play on a team full of friends who aren’t competitive.  Your objective is to draft a competitive team.  Think about it.  If you draft a team comprised primarily of your friends, and the team is not competitive, your friends will not have a fun experience and they may not appreciate your efforts!
  
  
• One goal we recommend going into the team draft is to have a ranked list of men and a ranked list of women.  That way, when it reaches your turn in the draft, you can take the highest ranked man/woman still available – with some adjustments for skills or personalities to fit in with others on your team.
  
  
• How do you know enough to create the ranked lists?
• Review the player experience information listed for team captains on the BSD Captain's website.
• If any player’s experience sounds interesting, call her/him to get more details.  The more you know, the better you can gauge where players rank relative to one another.
• Very important: Pay attention to the next-lower division!  If you want to be a winning captain, recognize that sometimes players (especially newer players) get placed too low and it’ll help the league as a whole (and your team in particular) if you spot that talent for the next season’s draft.
• And of course… go to the tryouts!  We hold these solely for captains to see players demonstrate their skills and team-playing abilities.  And don’t just focus on newer, unknown players – even seasoned players change.  Sometimes they take clinics or start playing more often and it will reflect in their skills.  Tryouts can be chaotic, you will find it challenging to mentally keep track of players & your evaluations of them, so be prepared to take a lot of notes.
  
  
• Things to think about in evaluating a player:
  
• how mobile/quick they are,
  
• how well they execute different skills (passing, hand sets, hitting, serving),
  
• how well they know the game and get into the right defensive positions.

You’ve Drafted Your Team… Now What?

Congratulations!  Drafting a team is an intimidating thing for newer captains, and it certainly seems challenging even to a lot of repeat captains who just never seem to win.  We won’t name names, that’s not polite!

Being on a competitive team is important to many players, but just as important is their experience on the team.  Captains set the tone for their team and it’s up to you make their experience a positive one.  We recommend a few things below to help:

• Contact your team right away!
• Let them know in which division and on whose team they are on.
• If the season’s schedules are already posted on the BSD website, ask them to look there or, even better, in your note give them your team’s specific schedule (dates & times & court numbers).
• Give them your contact information and ask them for their contact information (email and phone) if you don’t already have it from their signup data.
• Ask them to let you know in advance, if possible, any matches that they might miss due to schedule conflicts.
• And perhaps most important -- be enthusiastic and positive, let them know how much potential you see in the team!
• Remind them of the league’s rules and specifically, player expectations.

• Before Each Game
• If you cannot make a game, ask someone on your team to act as captain for that week.
• Keep track of your player's schedules - ask them to notify you as soon as they know they will be missing a match.  If your team will have fewer than 6 players planning to show up for a match, work ahead of time to arrange for a sub.  Follow the league's rules relarding substitute players and make sure you coordinate your sub with the opposing team's captain before the ,atch starts.  Remember, the opposing captain has a right to not approve a sub who's skill level is too far above the player he/she is replacing.  Don't look for a competitve advantage when arranging for a sub.  Your goal in this situation is to field a team and avoid a forfeit - your players should be happy to be playing regardless.
• Think ahead to come up with lineups for the players who will be there.
• Make sure your lineups allow players a fair opportunity to contribute to the team – do not plan lineups that isolate a person to no effective play.  Why do we say this?  Because there have been complaints about exactly this type of thing in the past, and you would think it wouldn’t need to be said explicitly, but yet it still seems to occur every so often.  Every person pays the same amount of money and deserves a fair share of the plays.  Please keep this in mind.
  
• In our co-ed league, women in the front row often play as setters in a 4-2 format (4 potential hitters & 2 setters on the court at any time).  This is not a rule by any measure, but the men’s height nets make hitting a challenge for players whose hands don’t clear the plane of the net on a jump.  There have been many exceptional women’s hitters in our league, so design your lineups to your individual players’ strengths.
• We do not recommend teams playing a 6-2 format or 5-1 format unless equal opportunities are given to the women in the front row for hitting.  Why do we say this?  Because some teams in the past have played these formats and bias the sets to the male hitters on the front row, leaving the front-row women with very little chance to play and contribute. You would think this wouldn’t need to be said explicitly, but yet it still seems to occur every so often.

• Game Time!
• Here’s your chance to really make a difference – your leadership of the team during a match can give your team an extra edge!
• Good captains will take the time to not only lead with their play on the court but to also observe their team to get a sense of their player's strengths and weaknesses.  This will help you adjust your lineups to balance players – i.e., put quicker players around someone who seems to move slow, or put good passers around someone who is struggling to pass well that night.
• During timeouts, try to keep a positive focus to your comments and remember that praise is a much more effective motivator than criticism – e.g., “Great hustle getting to that ball! Keep talking everyone, say where you are on a broken play…”
• In your interactions with the referee and with the other team, just remember – this is a social league, designed for fun.  Do not let your competitiveness get the better of you and keep your attitude in check.
• And remember, only the floor captain or team captain can talk to the referee – other players should never initiate a discussion with the ref about calls, etc.  Make sure you tell your teammates to funnel all such questions through the floor/team captain.

Any Questions?

Your league commissioner should always be your primary point of contact for any questions you may have.  You can also consult the BSD League directors for general questions.