2012 Captains and Leadership Council

The Westfield High School Shamrock Football Program is really only as strong as its members. Each year represents a chance for new leaders to take up the mantle of the departed, and forge a renewed path in our quest for excellence. Most football teams have captains, but I don't know that many have a leadership council. We Rocks have both.

Our captains aren't simply chosen at the end of a random practice by a show of hands. Rather, we ask that each captain apply for the position, and draft an essay explaining why they believe they would be a good captain and leader, what the program means to them, and how they plan to help the team. The essays are made available to everyone in the locker room to review before casting their votes. Coach Gilbert then reviews the votes, essays, and selects the captain's based on what he sees as the team's desire.

Thus, our captains are not always simply "seniors." Also, we may have a different number of captains from year to year. Generally, with 90+ votes, trends make themselves pretty clear. If, for instance, you have three top vote gatherers, and then the number of votes drops sharply after that... we will have three captains. Four way tie? We'll have four. Two very, very strong candidates? We'll run with two. Each team is different, each year is different. Our selection process takes into account this truth.

In addition to captain selection, we also form a Leadership Council with representatives from every class. Yes, Seniors through Freshman have a voice in this council. Coach Gilbert consults with the council often on everything from jersey color choice to potential team disciplinary actions. We are a family, and we do our best to listen to each family member. No easy tasks when you're talking about such a large group of young men. Still, we like to think our system is somewhat unique and a bit above-and-beyond your typical high school football fare. We want our players to have a voice and hand in our program's development.

As such, I'm proud to announce this year's selection of captains and leadership council members. They were chosen prior to last Friday's game, but I didn't get a chance to write this up until now (there were announcements on Twitter!). So, without further ado, here are your voices for the team:

Captains

• Nick Ferrer
• Normando Gonzalez
• Stephen Curry

New Leadership Council Members

• Jacob Tebbe
• Eric Miner
• Carson Lorts
• Normando Gonzalez
• Kory Kostecka
• Nick Ferrer
• Zane Burtron
• Adam Horkay
• Jacob Robinson
• Bailey Partlow
• Johnny Crawford
• Nick Sloderbeck
• Sam Trompen

We expect a lot of hard work from these guys in helping to shape our season and program. #Hungry