Every team should assign a Spirit Captain separate from the regular team captain. Spirit is every individual players responsibility but a Spirit Captain will help a team keep focused on Spirit of the Game. The Spirit Captain is responsible for:
- Keeping track of overall team spirit and helping maintain a good spirit score
- Rallying your team at the end of a game to decide on the most spirited player of the other team
- Helping submit a spirit score for the opposing team and gathering input/keeping your team in the loop for that score
- Bragging to MZU about your awesome team spirit! Send us your pics, spirit games and stories!
Improving Spirit
Because Spirit is sometimes a tricky concept to get your head around, here are some easy tips to improve Spirit!
- Read the rules.
- Write a rules quiz and test your teammates with it.
- Realize that there are always two perspectives to every situation, and everyone’s judgment is clouded somewhat by the outcomes they desire.
- When making calls, encourage your teammates to be loud and clear.
- Never swear or use personal attacks.
- Adopt a team code of conduct that outlines expected behavior and penalties.
- Discipline any teammate who breaks the spirit of the game.
- Introduce yourself to your opponents before the game or on the sideline.
- Give your opponents a gift or play a spirit game after the game.
- Remember, a spirited team follows the rules, makes calls, is open to conversations when there is disagreement, and plays competitively, but not at the expense of the well-being of others. They play to win, but they play to win within the rules and with a level of integrity that is expected within MZU.
Credit: World Flying Disc Federation