The Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Central School District honored role model student-athletes at a recent captains’ brunch for their skills and achievements both on and off their respective playing fields.
A three-year tradition within the district, the seasonal brunches are coordinated by APW Athletic Director Bert Conklin as a way for varsity team captains to collectively examine, develop and strengthen their overall leadership abilities.
Team captains from the fall football, soccer, cheerleading and cross country sports teams were represented at the recent brunch and participated in a self-evaluation exercise where they were asked to reflect upon their commitment to the team, their confidence, their composure and their character.
Conklin then asked the captains to think about how their teammates would evaluate them on the same four criteria (commitment, confidence, composure, and character) and also the legacy that they would be leaving at the end of the season and after they graduate high school.
Conklin played for the captains an emotional scene from the 2006 movie Facing the Giants that spoke to the importance of effort, heart, and commitment within an athletic team.
In the clip a less than motivated team captain was put to the test when the football coach asked him to crawl from the end zone to the 50 yard line while carrying a teammate on his back and blindfolded. At the end of the scene, with the team captain making his way past the 50 yard line and into the other end zone, the coach spoke about giving the best effort, never giving up and said, “You are the most influential person on this team. If you act defeated so will everyone else.”
Future captains’ brunches will be held at the start of each season’s sports schedules throughout the school year.
For more information about the brunches or other aspects of athletics in the APW District, contact Conklin at the APW High School, (315) 625-5232.
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