Other

I need to stay true to my core abilities. The other club Ultimate captains I know in Madison gain respect by having a lot of physical and vocal presence. I knew from the start that these were not traits that I could rely on as a 5'4" woman with minimal yelling abilities. My strength as a captain was my knowledge about the game and how to practice effectively. While others on Team Rocket could run faster, throw farther, and yell louder than me, I was able to earn my teammates' respect and help everyone improve both as individuals and as a team.

I can hold my own in a male dominated environment. Ultimate is unique in that USA Ultimate, the governing body for club teams in the United States, is committed to gender equality within the sport. However, Ultimate (like science) is still dominated by men to some extent. At the beginning of the season, several (male) team members felt the need to re-explain everything I said during team huddles. It was an exhausting process to prove myself, but after a few practices I was able to drastically cut down on the 'mansplaining' and gain support from former explainers. When I encounter this issue in the future, I now have strategies for minimizing it and asserting my own authority.

I need to schedule down time for myself. I am an introvert and I find spending time with large groups of people to be exhausting. Being a team captain at a tournament (or an instructor for multiple courses a week), requires interacting with people constantly. To keep myself going for the whole summer, I needed to make sure I had breaks when I didn't need to be social. Some times this meant skipping post-practice festivities, other times it meant spending a morning working from my couch instead of interacting with colleagues at the lab. Without time to myself, I would not have been able to be as effective a leader.

Reliable colleagues and mentors are extremely important. I could not have led Team Rocket by myself. While my co-captains were very busy with their personal lives that summer, having them to bounce ideas off of, lead practice when I got too busy in lab, and yell louder than me when it was windy, was essential to our team's success. Additionally, I received a lot of valuable advice and empathy from current and former club captains in Madison. Because of them, I was able to set reasonable requirements for team members, recruit extra players when necessary, and learn some new Ultimate strategies myself over the course of the summer. Having colleagues and mentors is important for science as well. Teaching is better when you are not alone!