Guys need opinion about teamwork and attitude

[hostage]

Okay this is the second time for my tourney team playing together. We are a college team, a few of the guys I have played with a lot, the others have so/so. Our captain attitude is questionable, he is a good player and has much experence, but he kind of acts like he is the best, with a kind of cocky, and egotistical attitude. Last time we did well, but this time he really started going off on us. He has good experence, but he thinks he is soo good that he doesn't listen to what we have to say. I was told to play back, (i never play back), but I am mostlikely the most accurate shooter and snap shot in the group, not only that, but I use to run cross country and track, so I am pretty fast. I try to talk to him about this and one of my teamates isn't as fast (he now plays front) and he is like a foot taller than me. He kept on getting shot off the break. I am not meaning to complain or boost, but he kept on yelling at since I wasn't "calling" anything out. The thing was I was yelling at the top of my lungs. Also I never heard anything from anyone else I said than then everyone shut uped. How should me and my teamates aproach him to make him listen instead of just seeing his way? He is a good player, but he thinks he is 10x of what he is.
-Hostage

[Temo Vryce]

Well you could talk to the rest of the team and find out where they are most comfortable playing and just have them play there.

The last thing you should do is get into a shouting match with the team captain.

How was the team captian picked? Did he assign himself or was he voted in? Is it time to pick a new captain?

[Quiet]

Just Cause he's the most experienced doesn't mean that he should be the captain. Your team can reap the rewards of his knowledge without him running the show. If all the members of the team aren't getting input, or at least getting listened to, the captain isn't doing his/her job.

Sounds like time to elect a new leader.
I would suggest that you get the team together. Hand everybody a peice of paper, have them write who they think should be the captain on it. Throw them into a hat and have somebody who isn't on the team count em up. That way nobody feels slighted.

[hostage]

well he kind of apointed himself, at first i thought he did good, but when he started to mix stuff up after we played well, we kept on getting worst. The team thinks the same way of how he shouldn't go off on us like that, he would yell, but when we were getting ready to leave, he kind of felt bad (i could tell) and he started to joke about it. I think he is a good front player he has good tatics, but he doesn't think in stratigy and how everyone would benifit the team the most. A couple of us have warp feeds and when we shoot from the dorettos or home plates really well, we can do much more damage since smaller profile, also some other pro's and con's of the team. He knows what we should do, but he doesn't know who should do it corretly.
-Doron

[buck 50]

Have an intervention
Lock every one in a room and have it out.
It will bring you together as a team or tear you apart but you are not happy now so what do you have to lose.
Those who seek positions of leadership seldom deserve them.

[luke]

*I say give him a chance to correct his wrongs. Being captain can be difficult, try to work it out.
*Perhaps there should be 2 captains so you can keep each other in check.
*You might try talking to him AWAY from the field, (buy him lunch) tell him how the team feels he should be running the team different. At this point I doubt ganging up on him will solve anything.

[dre1919]

I think you all need to sit down as a team and decide on a lot of things. First off, who out of all the personalities you have on your team is best suited to lead them? Sure, this guy you have as the captain right now wants to lead (you said he appointed himself), but the question is "will anyone follow?" It's just like the old addage "never order your men to do anything you aren't willing to do yourself." Being the captain of a team comes with a lot more responsibilities and headaches than some people think...they just see the "I get to be in charge!" thing and think that sounds good.

This guy sounds like a vauable asset because of the skills you say he has and the experience...but those things don't always make for a good leader. He needs to earn the respect of his men, and then they will trust his decision making and follow it. To me, it sounds like everyone on your team respects his playing abilities, but his leadership is the lacking part. Well, maybe he's just not the leader type...most aren't. That's why the system works as well as it does in life, some (few) are natural leaders and most are more comfortable being followers. It doesn't make either one better than the other, it just makes them work better together.

What concerns me about what you said from above is this guy yells a lot. Ok, I can see getting animated about something important or trying to prove a point if no one's paying attention, but just outright yelling at someone isn't going to solve much. Especially in a volunteer group like a paintball team is. None of you HAVE to be there, so if you get tired of his crap one day you'll just walk out. So, I would say first figure out who the best personality is to lead, then let him assess each players talents and assign positions (but only while talking to each player and asking them if that's a role they accept/want). Then, begin working as a group better and contributing ideas for the greater good. Whoever becomes captain needs to understand the yelling and using the "because I said so" approach isn't going to fly with you guys.

It sounds to me like the guy you have now has already proved he's not the one to lead you to victory, you might as well act now and hopefully he'll understand. Good luck.

[Blazini]

The next time you hold practice just explain your position. Let the captain know that you like the tactics used and respect his experiance, but you and the rest of the team would like to switch positions up. Run it the way he suggests, and run it your way. If the team responds better with the people in the new positions suggest you play in that set for the next tourney.
On the other hand, do you and the rest of the team understand the captains motivation in putting the faster players back and the slower front? You said yourself that you never play back. Perhaps he's switching it up so you and your teamates can better understand each others position. If a back player knows what it's like to be balled up behind the smallest bunker on the field and understands the front players lack of vision, he can more effectively relay the information that keeps that balled up front guy in the game. I'm willing to bet that your experiance at playing back will make you a better front player.
In regards to the cocky attitude and shouting, paintball is a high adrenaline game and tends to bring out the inner a-hole in some people. You might want to say something to him about these issues in private as mentioned earlier.
Best of luck,
Blazini

[Oddball]

I think it is important to know how the team is formed. I currently play on two teams, AGD Pride and also the Southern Il Univ's toury team. For Pride, I am often listed as captain and go to the captains meetings. I did not ask for the job and i wasn't voted in, I just like going to the meeting and no one else really wants to do it. I am basically the captain in title only, just like how the the Queen of England has no real power. I have no more say then anyone else on the team, and all ideas are run past the team, including walking the fields. Our team is different then most due to the fact that we were all friends before we got into paintball (well, we didn't know Timmy at first). Everything is decided as a team.
For my school club, we have yet to play a tourny together but one is coming up in about 2 weeks. I am the only one with any experience playing toury ball so I will most likely tell my teammates what to do and where to go off the break. But I will lisen to thier input and say things like "i think u should ...." not "I know best so do it".
If it is a school club and everyone else is having problems with him also, talk to him together. Express your feelings, if you want to play front and the other guy wants to play back, then switch spots with him. If the "captain" does not like it, ask him why not. Being a school club, the MOST IMPORTANT thing is to have FUN! Having a captain that pisses (can i say that?) you off will only frustrate you. I would rather play on a losing team and have fun then to be a winning team full of do-do heads (I can say that!).

[darklord]

My friend was in a similar situation, and he just up and left the team (he's now on my team). Just have the team go out for dinner or something at an informal gathering, and just tell him that he needs to chill out. Sometimes people get so into the game, they don't realize that they are being jerks. As you said, he seemed to be kind of remorseful after yelling. But, if you just sit down with him, and tell him he really needs to take it easy, especially on the yelling, then I'm sure things will work out.

[CaptainChops]

Since you were emphasising the skill level of this guy, I assume that you're worried about losing him from your team.

If he's a good friend, bring up the problem with him on a one-to-one basis to save him the embarrassment of his dirty laundry being aired out for the whole team.

But if he's a big hothead like you're making him out to be, it may be good to knock down his pride a notch by bringing it up with the entire team present.

No matter what, I advise you still to choose your words wisely. If the guy feels that he's doing you a favor by being on your team, you have to be careful to not bruise his ego too badly, or you can kiss him goodbye as a teammate.

[SyntaxError]

Talk to him about whats going down, and how you feel about the team's situation. If he doesn't listen to you, or if he becomes angry that you think that way, leave the team. Try to get your other teammates on your side, and really get your point across to him, don't just hint at it.

Tell it to him straight, best solution.

[SlipknotX556]

We have some guy at our field that does the exact same thing, as the break happens, he just sits in the back and yells at us, telling us that we do everything all wrong, that we suck.

[hostage]

well we are a college team and the possiblity of leaving for any of is not that great. I just want to work together and for him to know that he can't know everything so that is why he should listen.
-Doron

[Paintmanmike]

Every team I've been on was destroyed by the "best player" attitude, twice the captain and once just a member. I guess it's hard to keep your ego in check when everyone is telling you how much better you are then the rest of the team. However for the good of the team something has to give.

There is a lot of good advice in this thread already. I think CaptainChops advice is good and so is Syntax Error among others but keep in mind what Temo Vryce said about checking with at least some other team members for support first. The last thing you want is to find yourself the odd man out if no one else supports you. You don't want to raise a mutiny so just sanity check with a couple of your closest buds to make sure that they see things you're way too.

Then approach the guy with you and maybe one other person. One of you two needs to be the "voice of reason" in case it goes badly, the other one needs to be honest but keep a cool head and tell it like you see it. If it starts to flounder drop it and find another way.

If all else fails then a team meeting is probably the only choice but everytime I've seen that happen the team loses some of its character and momentum; then just falls apart. I hate that, the best group of guys I ever played with just tanked this way.

[raehl]

If at all possible, find a faculty member at your school who is into paintball and get them to be your coach, and let him make all the big decisions. If you can separate those decisions from the people who actually PLAY you'll be doing yourself a big favor. Just because MOST paintball teams have a PLAYER who is the captain and does the coaching doesn't mean that it's the best way to do it. You had a coach in track and cross country, right? If you can't get a faculty member, try and enlist the help of a player or field owner or someone else from your area. Practice against an Am team in your area a lot? Ask someone on that team with a good amount of experience and a good temprament if they'd be your coach.

If you can't do that, you may just have to stage a popular revolt. I was tournament captain at the University of Illinois for a semester - but not because I was the best player on the team (I'm not sure I was even close), but because I was the guy who made the reservations, paid the registration, made sure people were getting to practice, recruited new members, and dealt with the politics of picking who played on which of our teams (we had 3 at the time, I think UofI is up to 5 now.) Coaching? Nobody on our team did that, that's what the local Am teams were for, along with our advisor.

The team I play on now, I'm probably the most experienced player (which is not to be confused with the best player, as I'm horrendously out of practice and new to the team so I havn't seen a lot of the other guys play much.) But I'm also not the captain. Our captain is a guy who knows everyone on the team fairly well, is charged with all the areas of responsibility, and makes all the decisions, and he does all of that well. Coaching is pretty evenly split amongst everyone; we all know we're not perfect and are looking for what our teammates see we can do better.

In the long run, any player who thinks they're above criticism should be tossed. I don't care WHO you are, there's always room for improvement, and if someone has decided they don't need to improve anymore they've just made themselves a liability.


What school do you play for, if you don't mind me asking? You can drop me an email at ncpa@college-paintball.com if you don't want to post it - maybe I can just smack your captain upside the head directly and save you the trouble. ;)

- Chris