I was thinking about this the other day. I have a team with no seniors at all, so I was debating on who I wanted to be my captain. I actually have a sophomore and a freshman who are more team leaders than the 6 juniors I have, but I can't in all good conscience do that, can I?
I would think for the high school level, that it would be up to the coach to decide which ladies are captains. You might get elected someone who doesn't want it or who doesn't deserve it.
My DDs HS team's coaches are selected by the players. Most years, the team captains are seniors. The girls just naturally vote for them. This year's captains were 1 senior and 1 sophomore. The sophomore is a 2x All Conference player, and is the natural leader of the team.
What's the value in having a captain? I haven't coached girls that old yet, so I'm open-minded to this, but for 14U and younger, I've not seen the need for it.
A leader will lead by example regardless of age... look for, NOT the biggest mouth, but instead the biggest heart. Captains should demonstrate motivation, work ethic (maximum effort), self control, and maintain a positive attitude.
What purpose does a captain serve in softball or baseball? The coaches take over the responsiblity of a captain. I wish it should be played in such a way that once the girls enter the field its their game. Let the captain set the field and call pitches etc. The coaches job is to coach and during the game they may offer advice to the captain and not out in the field being part of the game. It may not work with smaller kids but I am sure 14Us can handle it.
From what I have seen, coaches and umpires love to get into the act and try to one up the girls with their crazy screaming and over the top actions for strike outs etc.
We coaches select from game to game. After a game we hand out a game ball to a player that made an awesome play, never gave up or just simply played like they never have. Then the one that receives the ball becomes the captain for the next game. So it is an earned title not a give me title.
We are trying a new concept that came out of a coaching camp. We have four Seniors. The team is divided between those four seniors and they address team issues and try to resolve them before they come to the coaches. More like team leaders than captains.