Graphic by Rose Shen/The Choate News
This fall, a group of juniors and seniors have had the unique experience of captaining their sports teams hundreds of miles away from Choate’s playing fields.
Captains, remote or in-person, play a crucial role in leading practices, being role models, and building team chemistry. They also help set the tempo for competitive play during practices and games. This year, with the ongoing pandemic, captains have had to be extra flexible, and those who have chosen to remain off campus had to make serious adjustments.
One of the remote captains this fall is Ashley Lensch ’21, who is currently at home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Lensch is one of the captains of the Varsity Field Hockey team, along with Claire Gavin ’21 and Page Wildridge ’21, who are both on campus. Although she still finds ways to communicate with her coaches, co-captains, and fellow teammates, captaining from afar has been challenging. “I think the biggest struggle of captaining remotely has been not being able to participate in the fun activities field hockey is doing,” Lensch said.
Speaking about Varsity Field Hockey’s senior night, which was celebrated on October 30, Lensch said, “I’m going to Zoom in, but it’s definitely not the same. I can’t talk with my teammates in the same ways I normally would be able to.”
In order to continue supporting their teams from afar, remote captains like Lensch have quickly adapted to the unusual circumstances. “As a remote captain, my biggest role has been cheering on my teammates over Zoom during practice and helping the team stay on top of administrative tasks, like thank you letters to our Play for the Cure [field hockey’s annual game for charity] donors,” said Lensch.
Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Co-Captain Morgann Skoda ’22, who is learning remotely from Montreal, is also captaining from a distance. Additional challenges arise for Skoda and her co-captains, Renee Jiang ’22 and Ella Sklar ’22, since they are all juniors who have never been in the leadership positions on the team before.
Skoda said, “One of the biggest struggles of captaining remotely is definitely getting to know the new kids and being connected with the team. It’s also hard to captain a team remotely, especially when the rest of the team isn’t [remote], because you’re not really there to participate in the team bonding.”
She added, “The biggest change was not being able to compete with my teammates, because that’s usually how I get to know people the best.”
This season might be different and unexpected, but Skoda “is trying to make the most of the experience,” as she puts it, and still tries to get the ball in her hands whenever she can.
This fall’s remote captains, including Girls’ Cross Country Co-Captain Esther An ’21 and Boys’ Varsity Water Polo Co-Captain Jack Sun ’21, have been able to maintain team bonds from their own bedrooms.
