Introducing The Captains Leadership Cohort
This spring Oakland Lacrosse launched a new program: The Captains Leadership Cohort. This is a nine-week program for high school team captains, giving them the tools to better understand themselves, strengthen their confidence, and lead their teams with purpose.
Meeting weekly, the cohort combines short lessons, honest discussion, and hands-on activities in a format built for reflection and real-life application. This approach helps captains put leadership into practice right away with their teams. The program will wrap up with a leadership service day, where captains will support a middle school game day and put their learning into action.
The heart of the curriculum centered on a powerful idea—leadership starts within. Early sessions focus on helping captains know who they are, identify the strengths they carry, and grow in self-awareness. Captains are asked to think deeply about what makes an effective leader, how self-confidence affects leadership, and how to use those gifts in service of others. The cohort emphasizes that character matters just as much as vision, and that qualities like integrity, selflessness, positivity, and consistency are what build trust.
From there, the curriculum expands into the inner work of leadership. Captains explore self-efficacy, emotional health, and the importance of understanding their motives and influences. They are encouraged to lead their emotions instead of being led by them, to examine the beliefs that shape their confidence, and to make decisions rooted in truth, not pressure or insecurity. These lessons are designed to help these young leaders build resilience, maturity, and the kind of steadiness that teams depend on.
The second half of the program shifts from self-leadership to team leadership. Captains learn how to serve others, connect with teammates, encourage confidence, handle conflict in healthy ways, and create stronger team culture. They practice listening, asking better questions, resolving differences with care, and setting their teammates up for success. The program closes by helping captains define what success looks like for their team and identify concrete steps they can take to move their team forward together.
Two captains shared their experiences mid-cohort:
I’ve learned that I have a lot to learn before I can really call myself a captain. Seeing other captains talk about their strengths and weaknesses showed me mine and helped me realize stuff that I do are strengths as well. When we were talking about things that throw us off in a game, I realized that I can control my self-doubt and having confidence is key. - Nathan N, Helmets at Oakland Tech High School
“In the cohort I have learned that I often tell myself lies that I don't recognize as lies which are hindering my day to day life. The program has helped me see strengths in even the little things and how they can still have a positive impact on others. A lesson that made something "click" for me was the lesson about self-efficacy beliefs and how many of the negative things and lies we tell ourselves can be replaced with truths.” - Angelina L., Goggles at Oakland Tech High School
The goals of the cohort are clear: help captains become more aware of who they are and the strengths they carry, support them in applying what they learn to their leadership, and strengthen team unity, player buy-in, and positive culture across Oakland Lacrosse. The Captains Leadership Cohort is an investment in the young leaders who shape the future of their teams, schools, and communities.