so you want to be captain?

YOUSOWANTCAPTAIN

TOBE

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Declan Gane

Top tips from sporting heroes

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Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc50 Bedford SquareLondon WC1B 3DPwww.bloomsbury.com

Copyright © 2012 Declan Gane

ISBN 978 1 4081 3183 1

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems – without the prior permission in writing of the publishers.

Declan Gane has asserted his rights under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover photograph © Getty Images Inside photographs © Getty ImagesWith the exception of: pp 6 courtesy of DCMS; 9 © Declan Gane; 47 © Grant Treeby/WSP; 91 © ESPN; 93

This book is produced using paper that is made from wood grown in managed, sustainable forests. It is natural, renewable and recyclable. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

Designed and typeset by James Watson

Printed and bound in Croatia by Zrinski

NoteThe author and publishers would like to thank all the contributors to this book. As promised a donation from the author’s royalties has been made to Sport Relief. For more information on the author and the book see: www.soyouwanttobecaptain.com

Author’s dedicationFor my team – Louis, Rosa, Mariel and the real captain, Emma.


Contents

Letter from Lord Sebastian Coe 5Preface by Jeremy Hunt 6Foreword by Tom Watt 7Introduction 8

1 Get yourself ready: Prior planning and preparation prevents poor performance 10Set goals – Michael Vaughan 10Know the game – Jo Yapp 12Have vision – Justin Langer 14Good loser – Rhona Martin 16Your game – Stuart Hooper 17Early bird – Colin Montgomerie 18

2 Know your players: You know, the fast one with no neck… 20Put names to faces – Tanni Grey-Thompson 20Involve new players – Paul Sculthorpe 22Different characters – Sam Torrance 24Listen – Mark Butcher 26Feel at ease – Karen Atkinson 27

3 Work for the team: There’s no ‘I’ in team (but there’s an ‘M’ and an ‘E’ if you look hard enough!) 28Be a team player – Kelly Holmes 28You can’t please everyone – Robin Ejsmond-Frey 30Of benefit to all – Will Carling 31Believe and be believed – Malcolm Alker 32Build relations – Mark Chilton 34Care about the group – Tom Lehman 36Don’t go changing – Martin Corry 38Individuals need a team – Chemmy Alcott 40


So you want to be captain?

4 The field of play: Follow me, men! 42Actions speak louder – Jamie Peacock 42Lead by example – Richard Swain 44Front man – Ben Hawes 46Dig deep – Andy Todd 48Mix it up – Lee Briers 50R-E-S-P-E-C-T – Bob Casey 52

5 Not according to the plan: Mistakes happen, deal with it 54Always smile – Matthew Burke 54Be your own person – Geoff Boycott 56Encourage – Matt Holland 58Enjoy – Mike Catt 60Don’t worry – Andy Griffin 62

6 The big unwind: Life off the field 64Off-field understanding – Jeremy Snape 64Honesty, the best policy – Kevin Sinfield 66Be good! – Gary Lineker 68Never stop learning – Gavin Hastings 70Community worker – Kevin Davies 72Go the extra mile – Phil Neville 74

7 Captain Sensible: Look into my eyes 76A degree in people – Ian Botham 76Step up – Hugh Vyvyan 78Knit it all together – Graeme Murty 80It’s an honour – Leighton Baines 82Actions speak louder than words – Rory Best 84The list is long – Rob Andrew 86

8 Seen it all before, have you? Commentators tell it like it is 88Say thank you – Brian Moore 88The odd white lie – Ray Stubbs 90Get angry – Henry Winter 92Once more unto the breach – John Inverdale 94Mr Motivator – Jonathan Davies 95Inspire – Mark Lawrenson 96

4


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Letter from Lord Sebastian Coe 5


Preface


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Foreword

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Introduction


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Introduction

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9


Chapter 1Get yourself ready

Prior planning and preparation prevents poor performance

Set goalsBeing captain is a great experience, even though sometimes it can be a bit stressful. A captain can make or break a team, and there are many responsibilities that come with the job. For a team to do well, captain and coach/manager must be on the same wavelength. Rule 1 is to maintain a good relationship and keep communication channels open – that means no slanging matches, especially in front of the team. But the chances are you already do get on well with everyone, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be captain! Here are a few practical pointers to remember when you’re selected for captain:

• List the things you want to accomplish and describe how you want to help or improve the team. Be specific and realistic.

• List the good traits (e.g. being a good role model) and bad traits (e.g. not listening to team members) of captains you have known. You could carry this with you in your kit bag; keep it in your boot, so you are sure to glance at it every time you play.

fact fileBatsman and sometimes off-spinner, Michael began playing

professional cricket aged 17, leading the England Under-19s on tour

to Sri Lanka in 1993–1994 and at home against India in 1994. He

played his first Test match for England in South Africa in November

1999, and was appointed captain in 2003. He captained the Ashes

winning side in 2005 and is now a respected commentator.


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fact fileBatsman and sometimes off-spinner, Michael began playing

professional cricket aged 17, leading the England Under-19s on tour

to Sri Lanka in 1993–1994 and at home against India in 1994. He

played his first Test match for England in South Africa in November

1999, and was appointed captain in 2003. He captained the Ashes

winning side in 2005 and is now a respected commentator.

Get yourself ready

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11



Know the gameThe laws and rules of any sport can be very complicated. As captain, you need to know the options when something out of the ordinary happens on the field. A fast decision and quick reaction to a strange set of circumstances might catch the opposition off-guard, and result in a score.

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Get yourself ready

fact file

Jo made her club debut for Worcester Ladies in 1996. She joined

England’s elite squad in 1998, playing her first international,

against Ireland, in the same year. The Worcester scrum half,

who teaches physical education, captained her club side

in 2003–2004, led England for the first time in the 2005 Six

Nations, taking the team to the World Cup finals in 2006. Born

in Shrewsbury, Jo comes from a true rugby family: she plays

alongside her sister, was coached by her father, and her brother

plays rugby too!

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Have visionOnce you’ve settled on your goals, share them with your team and create a vision for the season – you might want to do better in a cup competition, aim for your side to be unbeaten all season or do the double over the local rivals. It is important for each to know what he or she is working to achieve.

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14


fact file

Justin was a left-handed batsman best known as an Australian Test

match opener and very occasionally as a wicketkeeper. He played

county cricket for Middlesex (1998–2000) and was captain in 2000.

He also captained the Prime Minister’s XI in December 2005. Justin

retired from Test cricket after the fifth Ashes Test against England

on 1 January, 2007, and at the same time returned to Somerset as

captain for the 2007 season. In July 2009, in his 615th innings, Justin

surpassed Sir Don Bradman as Australia’s leading first-class run

scorer when he scored his 86th century. He hung up his boots at the

end of that season.

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15



Good loserKnowing what it feels like to lose should spur you and your team on to win. After all, who wants to lose and see the others walk away with the medals? Stay cool, shake their hands, but don’t forget that feeling of failure. Remember it when you’re behind in a match so it spurs you to try harder to win.

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team at both the European and World Championships, but is most

famous as the skip of the team that claimed the gold medal at the

2002 Olympic Winter Games.

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16


Get yourself ready

Your gameIf you’re going to be captain, you need to be a pretty good player, so make sure you put in 100 per cent effort on the training ground and train harder and faster than the rest of the team. Listen to the coach, watch the pros and use what you pick up when you are on the field.

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fact fileAs captain of Leeds Tykes for the 2005–2006 Guinness Premiership season, Hooper became the youngest captain in the league. Born in Devon, he could have been a league basketball player, having played at county level until he was 16, before opting for rugby union. He broke into the Saracens team while still a teenager, and while there he played alongside the French legend Abdel Benazzi in the second row. A surprise move brought him to Leeds in 2003, and in June 2005 he was called up for England ‘A’ against France and was part of their Churchill Cup success in Canada. ‘Hoops’ moved to Bath Rugby in 2008 and was named club captain for the 2011/12 season.

17


fact fileColin turned pro in 1987 and was Rookie of the Year in Europe in

1988. His consistency saw him climb the European Money List

and in just five years he became Europe’s No. 1, a position he held

for an unprecedented seven years! Monty moved into the top 10 of

the World Rankings in 1994 and was consistently ranked amongst

the world’s best golfers. A Ryder Cup regular, he led the Europeans

from the front to a victorious win under Sam Torrance’s inspired

captaincy at the Belfry in 2002, and in 2004 he led from the start to

finish, holing the winning putt in the Europeans’ greatest triumph

over the USA. By now a Ryder Cup legend, Monty describes being

selected by the players to captain the 2010 Ryder Cup Team at

Celtic Manor – and winning the trophy again – as the proudest

achievement of his career.

Early birdElite sportsmen will tell you it’s often the small things that make the difference between winning and losing. So when you’re asked by the captain to be ready on time, even if ‘on time’ means 5 minutes early, just do it!

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So you want to be captain?18


fact fileColin turned pro in 1987 and was Rookie of the Year in Europe in

1988. His consistency saw him climb the European Money List

and in just five years he became Europe’s No. 1, a position he held

for an unprecedented seven years! Monty moved into the top 10 of

the World Rankings in 1994 and was consistently ranked amongst

the world’s best golfers. A Ryder Cup regular, he led the Europeans

from the front to a victorious win under Sam Torrance’s inspired

captaincy at the Belfry in 2002, and in 2004 he led from the start to

finish, holing the winning putt in the Europeans’ greatest triumph

over the USA. By now a Ryder Cup legend, Monty describes being

selected by the players to captain the 2010 Ryder Cup Team at

Celtic Manor – and winning the trophy again – as the proudest

achievement of his career.

Get yourself ready

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19


Top Tips From Major Names In The Sporting World

http://www.acblack.com/sport/So-you-want-to-be-captain/Declan-Gane/books/details/9781408131831

so you want to be captain?

Documents

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