By Kate Leavell | @KateLeavell

Wow, three-year captain of the lacrosse team: Sounds great on a resume and college application.

Being a captain is impressive. It indicates leadership qualities and the ability to garner respect from their peers. But what does a captain do, and how can a player become a good captain who guides their team culture rather than just holding a title?

Leadership is a skill. Some kids have a natural ability, but generally, leadership has to be learned, mentored and modeled. I learned this the hard way when I picked captains in my first year as a head coach and ended up disappointed when they didn’t step up.

It finally occurred to me that they weren’t slacking off—they just didn’t know how to lead or what it involved. So, for those kids hoping to be leaders on their team, captain or not, here are a few thoughts to help you along the way.

How much influence does a captain have on a team, really? Actually, so much that it can make even the bravest captain applicant nervous. Captains set the tone for the team. If they goof off, everyone loses focus. When they work hard while asking others to step it up, their teammates comply. Younger players model their captains’ behavior and look to them to see what is appropriate (and what isn’t).

The future of your program starts with the culture your young players learn when they come up. They are watching you, the captain, on the field, to see how you handle mistakes, bad calls, disappointments, frustration, and celebrations. They are watching you off the field, too.

• Do you talk about other players in a negative way, or do you point out their good qualities and stand up for your teammates?

• Do you stand behind the team standards and rules?

• Do you throw your stick and storm off the field, or do you redirect poor behavior by asking your teammates to respect themselves and the team by focusing on things they can control?

• When you talk to the team, is it focused on what everyone is doing wrong so they hang their heads, or do your words build their confidence and include helpful corrections?

• Do you party? Drink?

Teammates also look to the captain for advice, as a bridge between the team and the coaches, and for communications.

How can a captain affect culture? Just as an encouraging coach works to create a positive, effort-driven atmosphere, a captain can foster the same values in his or her teammates and help ensure a growth-focused culture. A team with an encouraging coach, but a discouraging, blaming or lazy captain will struggle to see their true potential.

Do you want a team filled with players who build each other up and overcome adversity with hard work? Or a team that argues, yells, looks for excuses, blows off practice and doesn’t work together? Have you thought about how your behavior would play out among your teammates if everyone were to copy it exactly? What if there were 25 clones of you on the field? What, then, would the culture look like?

Our team has a great tagline: “I got your back.” Anytime someone struggles, another teammate lets her know they have her back. That’s our cheer at the end of every game, a reminder that we play as a team and not individuals. The other day I apologized to my team because I felt like I had been too hard on them at practice. I was tired, and frankly a little more grouchy than usual. One of my players told me, “It’s OK coach, I got your back.” That’s the culture captains can build amongst themselves by keeping the negative at bay.

Being a captain carries a great deal of responsibility, but it also holds an amazing opportunity to help your team reach a potential that the coach can’t do alone. When captains take the responsibility to model and lead team culture, players buy in to what the captains choose to promote.

So, what kind of captain will you be?

Kate Leavell is a national coaching education trainer for US Lacrosse, as well as a high school varsity and NCAA Division III women's lacrosse coach in metro Atlanta, and a certified strength and conditioning coach.