My Experience as the Captain of the Football Team

If I had to sum up my experience as the captain of my college football team into a single word, it’d be - Grateful

It wasn’t an easy start for me. Most of it was because of the confidence (or lack thereof) in myself. I doubted my ability as a football player and as a leader. I was afraid of being a failure. It was a big responsibility and the last thing I would want to do is lose the respect of my players.

But this is where my players taught me a lesson. A lesson of friendship and trust. When I was in my Second Year of Engineering, I was new to the team. I hardly ever spoke. I was shy, introverted and I honestly never made an effort to get to know my teammates better. I knew I couldn’t continue this way as a leader. A leader cannot be disconnected from his team, so I knew something had to change.

So, I tried to be more engaging, I would mostly follow the lead of my Vice Captain - Erhard, and shadow him. Erhard was undoubtedly the most experienced and one of the best players in the team. So, I knew I’d learn from him. Slowly, slowly things were changing. I felt connected to the team, something I hadn’t felt before, and this was all because I made an effort. I made an effort to do more than just say Hellos and Goodbyes before and after every practice or game. That’s when I started to realize my players were an amazing bunch of human beings. There was mutual respect all around. There was fun when there needed to be fun and there was discipline when discipline was demanded.

The start of my first season as a captain wasn’t smooth sailing. With a relatively new team and lack of experience, we struggled to get results. Soon, I fell sick. As soon as I recovered from the fever, I played a tournament with the team, I got blurry vision and had to sit the final minutes out, missing the opportunity to take penalties. We drew 3-3 in normal time and then got knocked out on penalties. A month later, I was diagnosed with episodic asthma, which meant I couldn’t exert myself until I recovered. Words wouldn’t be able to describe the amount of disappointment I felt. But throughout this period, I never expected the amount of support I would receive from my team. They constantly asked me how I was doing and how soon it would be before I played again. All this support made me want to support them even more. I would make sure I never missed a single practice, even though it meant straining myself a bit. I wanted to be there for the team because they made sure that they were there for me.

Results were up and down at the time. We were playing well but few silly mistakes were costing us, but deep down knew that we could achieve something as a team. I was recovering well, I couldn’t wait to get back onto the pitch with the team. I was towards the end of my recovery process when we participated in “Athlos”. Most of the team was there, those who were playing and those who weren’t. There was this feeling in the squad - that no matter who we picked, everyone would back each other up. Though we lost that day, there were encouraging signs.

Nothing, however, would triumph the memories we made at the tournament hosted by the KJ Somaiya Medical College. This was the toughest test we ever faced. In our first match itself, we had to dig our way out from being 2-1 down to win 3-2. It was tough for me, I was still feeling the side effects of my medication but with the help of some amazing play from our forwards, we managed to turn it around. What followed from there were some of the toughest three matches with some of our strongest plays. We drew one and won two from those three matches, putting us into the finals. It was our first ever finals, I could feel the nervous energy amongst the team. For me, it was a record I wanted to break. Before this match, I had already lost two finals as the captain of my class’s football team. So I was determined to win this. I will never forget the moment when Austin headed home the winning goal right in front of me. It was a dream come true. What made me happiest the most, however, was the constant support from the playing as well as the non-playing players. I don’t think we would have gone all the way without their support. This was undoubtedly one of my fondest memories as the captain.

Soon after this, COVID struck, our practices and games had to come to a halt. It was disappointing, we had good momentum and we certainly could have achieved more that season. However, this entire season had to be spent under lockdown. We were lucky enough to get together at few turf sessions and even conducted a practice session for the freshers. But it still nothing consistent. I won’t let this dampen the spirit though, the football team has been in constant touch which is something I am delighted about.

I am also happy that I can leave this wonderful team in the safe hands of Kaustubh (the new captain), Clafacio and Lance (the vice-captains). I know that they are the right set of minds and feet to take the team to next level.

I am grateful to Stafford (my captain), to Erhard (our vice-captain and coach) and the entire team, for allowing me to lead, to learn, to have fun and most importantly, to grow.