More than a title

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 17, 2006 | by JAKE SCHALLER THE GAZETTE

Air Force women's tennis coach Kim Gidley had her team's travel schedule for the 2000 Mountain West Conference tournament planned perfectly.

The day before the first round it would fly out of Colorado Springs at 6 a.m., arrive in Las Vegas about two hours later and hold a pair of practices.

But the early flight necessitated a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call, and the team already was battling fatigue because of a particularly strenuous week of classes and military obligations. Players knew rest would be more valuable than court time.

Their team captain delivered the message. Gidley listened.

"That's probably the smartest decision I've ever made," Gidley said. "We went and we had breakfast and then we went to the hotel and slept for six hours. Then we had like an hour practice the night before and that was one of the best tournaments we've ever had.

"I could have been hardcore -- 'No, we have to do this' -- but normally (captains) don't ask for things randomly. So when they do ask, you really take it to heart."

The Air Force Academy is all about leadership training, so the role of a team captain goes beyond the figurehead duties of leading pregame stretching, watching a coin flip or talking to referees before games.

Earlier this year, Air Force baseball coach Mike Hutcheon said he was abandoning the practice of having team captains. Several captains had left the program during Hutcheon's first three years.

"I think really what we are is spokespeople for our team- mates to the coaches," said quarterback Shaun Carney, one of four captains on the football team. "I think we relay messages. Whatever the team has to say, we'll go tell the coaches, and we'll tell (the players) what the coaches have to say. We kind of do that, get together and if anybody needs anything, they'll come talk to us."

Several Air Force coaches rely on captains at the academy more than they did at nonservice academy schools because they see them less often.

"I had way more time with my athletes when I was at Denver and at North Dakota than I do here," ice hockey coach Frank Serratore said.

"This is different than a public school," said men's lacrosse coach Fred Acee, who coached for 30 years at the State University of New York-Farmingdale before taking over the program at Air Force. "I don't get to see these kids until, what, 2:30 (in the afternoon)? In my other job, I spent time with (the players) a lot. So I could find out what was bothering them or what wasn't.

"Here it's difficult because of the time.... I rely on (my captains) a lot. We meet once a week during the season, more if we have to."

Because cadets have military obligations in addition to their classes, captains said they must be cognizant of the mental and physical status of their teammates.

"You kind of have to use your own emotional intelligence to tell when someone needs to be asked if everything's going OK or ask them if they're having a bad time," said Kelly Morgan, the captain of the women's tennis team. "Especially the freshmen. Playing competitive Division I sports as a freshman here is really a challenge."

Men's lacrosse team captain Will Meister said he keeps track of which team members participate in offseason training sessions. He also deals with teammates who might have trouble within their squadrons.

"A lot of what we're trying to do is try to help our guys out as much as possible, whether it's down here (on the athletic field) or up at school," he said. "Because coach can help us out down here, but up there, it's pretty much all on us to help each other out."

According to Air Force policy, team captains must be approved by the athletic department. Captains are to be selected from the seniors on the team, and "justification is required if someone other than a First Class (senior) cadet is selected," the instruction reads.

Carney was the lone junior among four captains of the football team this fall.

"I think just because over the summer, I kind of took a leadership role, getting people together, making sure people were working hard and things like that," Carney said of his atypical selection. "And I think people understood that. And I've had some experience, and people have expected me to make plays in the past, and that's kind of carried over."

All 27 varsity sports at Air Force have between one and four captains, save for the baseball team. Hutcheon instead instituted what he calls his "Leadership Council," which consists of all five juniors and three seniors along with a rotating group of freshmen and sophomores. Hutcheon said the athletic administration cleared the decision.

"I've never really been a big captains guy," said Hutcheon, who said he used the leadership council model at previous jobs. "I feel like if we give guys the label of 'captains,' it limits other guys.... They might feel like they're not in a position to lead, they're not in a position to say anything because they're not captains."

Most of the other teams choose captains based on a vote of players and coaches. The men's lacrosse team selects its captains this way, though Acee said he reserves the right to veto the team's decision.