Trevor Leaf is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Pinnacle High School for AZPreps365.com

No matter what team sport you come across, it is important for every team to have good leaders.

At the start of every season, coaches have the task of appointing captains for their team. In most cases, coaches will already have a good idea of who they want their captains to be. Coaches look for people that have great work ethic, determination and are also able to lead the team through a season’s highs and lows.

When the Pinnacle swim coaches sat down to discuss who they wanted to appoint as this year’s captains, they found themselves with a good problem to have. There were 10 eligible captains for the 2019 season.

After a lot of consideration, the Pinnacle coaches named four captains for the new season. The captains for the boys team will be Amanee Vazquez and Carter Koshar. Captains for the girls team will be Erica Esterly and Kylie Wetnight.

“It feels like a big accomplishment and I’m very grateful for having this position,” said Wetnight, who said she had wanted the captain position since first joining the team as a freshman.

There are also people like Vazquez who was unsure about taking on the captain’s role.

“At first I didn’t know if I wanted to do it or not,” Vazquez said. “I was super unsure of what I was walking into, but when I was selected, an epiphany hit me of the level of responsibility and pursuit to be a great leader that came with it. And so, I was actually ecstatic about it.”

Wetnight said that during her freshman year she had looked up to one of the captains on the girls team.

“She always had a positive attitude and made sure to include everyone, and I always admired her for that," Wetnight said.

There is pressure that comes along with being captain of a team.

Vazquez said that “becoming a captain, and everyone is looking up to you, there comes that slight pressure of having those eyes always on the lookout.

"The thing is, I’m a goofy person," she said. "I love to have fun and do crazy things with my friends, but I don’t let this new leadership alter that. I let it become a form of growth for me. It doesn’t change my level of fun; it just adds on to how I can use that to guide others.”

Not only does the pressure come with the title of captain, but also being a senior. All four captains have been on this swim team since freshman year, and now are paving the way for the next generation of swimmers coming through Pinnacle.

“I hope that as a captain I inspire the freshman to be a good role model for those around them," Esterly said. "I also want to inspire them to want to be a responsible leader in the future.”

For those that were eligible to be a captain but weren’t chosen, Esterly said “they are taking it very well. We have had lot of seniors step up and help out when needed and they are all willing to lead with us.”