Coaches can’t do everything.

“We have to keep up to the team’s standards,” said Erin Weldon, a junior captain and defender on the ISU women’s soccer team. “We don’t want to let the team down because they have faith in us.”

ISU head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said the contributions of team captains are crucial.

“I guess it’s a sense of empowerment, of allowing them to understand that it’s their team,” she said. “Not everything comes from the coaches; [this] needs to come from the players.”

Weldon said time is a big problem for athletes, and captains play a role in leading younger players.

“We’re practicing while we should be studying, packing while we should be studying and studying while we’re traveling. We have to overlap and cut out a lot of our free time,” she said.

With her busy schedule, senior defender Arlene Samuel said she has taken the initiative to get involved with the academic support offered at Iowa State.

“Study groups are so important because we miss so much class on Thursdays and Fridays,” Samuel said. “We always have to make up work and catch up on readings.”

Senior goalkeeper Beth Chapman is looking on the bright side of things and said she is actually better because of the time constraints.

“I think soccer keeps you on a strict time schedule,” Chapman said. “I think I handle time a little better because of soccer.”

The captains are seen as role models for the team.

“You have to lead the team in the direction where everyone wants to go,” Samuel said.

Having the decisions come from the players and not the coaches gives the team more of a sense of ownership, head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said.

Samuel said that being a captain is just another role on the team.

“You have your defensive role, your offensive role and your leadership role,” she said.

Although she holds the title of captain, Samuel said there are other players on the field that are looked to for their leadership.

“Although everyone looks to us to lead, there are still other leaders on the team,” Samuel said. “[Kristina] Baumann is looked to for the forward leadership and [Deb] Benakis is looked to for midfield leadership.”

Chapman plays in the net and said it’s actually beneficial to be a leader in the backfield.

“I think that since the defenders are in the back, it’s almost easier to see what is happening on the field,” she said.

Hornbacher said the leadership in the game of soccer is different from that of any other sport.

“The game of soccer is different, for we do not have timeouts,” she said. “We really look for the captains to keep things going when things are going well, and to encourage the team when things are not going as well.”

Weldon said the captains are constantly trying to get the team focused as the season goes on.

“We try to have meetings before games to get everyone focused,” Weldon said “We want to make sure everyone realizes just how real this is, and that we can compete with these teams.”