Isabel Jasper- Blueprint for Action
Main Findings
- Harvard has an established policy for Captain Selection.
- Though most coaches are aware of the policy, many do not follow it.
- Although the policy clearly states that the Department of Athletics prefers one captain, the majority of teams have co-captains.
- Who is eligible to vote for captain varies by team. Some teams even allows managers to vote
- Some coaches try to influence the vote over the course of the year, identifying and meeting with team members to get them “ready to be captain.”
- Each team has a different procedure for electing captains despite the department’s “strict policy.”
- Despite the fact that all coaches are aware of the policy, a substantial number of coaches are not aware of what the policy dictates and those that are, don’t follow it exactly.
Quotes
- “If you have a good culture and a good team than the policy works.”
- “If you have one bad apple, you can’t leave things to chance.”
- “Coaches should be able to vote if the outgoing captain is able to vote, since we are the one’s responsible for the program.”
- “I don’t feel the need to vote or have a bigger part in the process because the process has worked for our team.”
- “We need to go back to the drawing board and get people from different teams. I think this policy worked 20 years ago but I don’t think it works for the current leader.”
- “One size fits all with 43 teams at Harvard doesn’t make sense”
- “The outgoing captains should 1000 million percent get a vote.”
- “It’s going to take collaboration to figure out a new policy. But I know this policy doesn’t work and it is not a one size fits all.”
- “Why we are forced into a one sized fits al is where I disagree.”
- “This is my ship, this is my program. I know who the best leader is.”
- “We need to go back to the drawing board and get people from different teams. i think this policy worked 20 years ago but I don’t think it works for the current leader.”
Recommendations
1. Transparency and Availability of PolicyThe Captains policy is something that should be easily available to coaches. Each coach should read the policy out loud and hand out copies of the policies to students before the elections. Most students are not aware that Harvard has a policy at all. 2. Assisted Implementation of the Policy
2. Assisted Implementation of the Policy
There should be an administer present during the process to make sure that the policy is done correctly.
3. Training for coaches on voting procedures and expectations
The policy should be implemented – although Harvard has a policy, few teams actually implement it strictly and some veer from the policy completely Coaches should be trained by department on how to run captain elections and what they should and shouldn’t say during the process as well as what there role should be Coaches should have a vote in the process An the athletic liaison for each team should be present and run the elections to help avoid bias. Outgoing captains often have a bias/friends that they are trying to promote and it becomes more of a popularity contest than an election based on characteristics needed to be captain.