How To Choose The Right Captain For Your Soccer Team

How To Choose The Right Captain For Your Soccer Team Coaches Training Room

When you analyze soccer’s most successful teams during the last decade I can guarantee that you will find most of the head coaches of those successful teams have readily admitted that a big key to their teams success came down to the leaders they had within their locker room.

As head coach myself, I’m convinced that you too will understand that effective team leaders such as “great captains” are a necessity because a great team captain can be the heart and soul for any successful team.

Today I want to help you to identify the right captain for your soccer team and what you as head coach should be looking for when you hand the armband over to an individual on your team.

Great Team Captains Should be an Extension of You:

Some of my best team captains in the past have been players who think and behave in similar ways to me. When you choose a captain you need to look for someone on your team who knows your philosophy and understands the way you want the team to play. You need a captain who can keep the team focused on the field while you’re on the sidelines.

Manchester City head coach- Pep Guardiola, always talks about how every team needs someone who can be a voice in the locker room and a captain that can hold teammates accountable both on and off the field.

If you’re a head coach then finding a player on your team who works hard, communicates well with others and encourages their teammates in difficult situations are things to look out for when choosing the perfect captain.

Great Team Captains Can Impact Your Success as Coach:

An effective team captain can impact the most important areas you find of coaching that are nearest and dearest to your heart. For instance, if you’re a coach that believes highly in players having good time management then you are most likely going to choose the player on your team that always arrives first to every game and training session and that has a great awareness of time to be your team captain.

When I reflect on my most successful teams as a soccer coach. I come to the conclusion that those teams would win a lot of games because each player was on the same page as the coach. For example, on game-days when everyone arrived early for the pre-game warm up, the team was more focused and we were able to prepare for the game more efficiently which helped the team to play well. On the days when players arrived late for the pre-game warm up or just before kick off, the team was less prepared both mentally and physically which resulted in poorer performances.

A great captain can have a major impact on your team’s success. Why? Because a great leader has the ability to dictate many factors that influence winning. Your team captain may text each player the night before to make sure they arrive on time for the game the next morning or the team captain may have 1on1 conversations with teammates who are struggling to perform at a high standard. An effective team captain can play a huge role in a team’s success.

A Great Captain Can Give You A Sense of Self Worth:

When you set aside team success, a quality team captain, or the lack thereof, can greatly influence how you feel about yourself as a coach. Effective team captains can prevent many problems that frustrate you from happening.

Every coach in all levels of the game will have experienced moments where a player they coach has given them gray hairs, kept them up at night or worse forced them to quit coaching all together. A great team captain can minimize many team conflicts, create a positive team environment and help other teammates to accept and understand their role within the team.

Ultimately, your success as a coach in soccer will not be measured by how many goals, wins or trophies your players achieve but by your ability to develop better people.

As a gift we have 8 Attacking Sessions FREE for you to help your players have more goal scoring opportunities and attacking through balls

Talk soon,
Coach Leonardo Capparelli
Educator, Coaches Training Room

p.s… A little about me… I’m from Argentina but raised in the United Kingdom and have been coaching over 10 years now. I am the owner of The Football Domain Academy in London and have a range of qualifications from the English Football Association. My passion is helping and educating coaches on how to build winning team cultures.

8-attacking-drills-and-sessions-free-coaches-training-room

As a gift we have 8 Attacking Sessions FREE for you to help your players have more goal scoring opportunities and attacking through balls