By: Chasen Shao ‘15
Editor-in-Chief

“We’re all in this boat together,” goes the popular saying. In this respect, the captain then becomes all the more crucial. On the high seas, captains direct the boat of the high seas through the turbulence of thunderstorms and the perilous waves. Likewise, the presence of the captains on the sports arenas is invaluable. They may be the best three-point shooters, the best hitters, the fastest runners, but they also are the most mature and the loudest voices on off the court. They are our leaders. However, leaders are not born. They are not destined. Leaders are made. Cherry Hill West’s newest group, known as the Captain’s Club, offers this guidance and sense of direction, which paves the way for the ordinary student of today to rise up to become the captain of tomorrow.
The Captain’s Club was founded behind the inspiration of Jay Goodson’s good friend’s similar club at Cherry Hill East. At East, David’s club helped to mold the leaders in the sports at the high school by offering similar guidance to the student athletes. At West, Goodson looks forward to expanding the program to include more student leaders, both student athletes and non-student athletes. Additionally, the program offers anti-bullying guidance for athletes. Goodson also noted that the new incentive molds better leaders but also makes the entire experience of the sports more interactive, which can allow sports to become better on a whole. The Captain’s Club comes as a new incentive behind the influence by anti-bullying state mandated policies as well as the “No Place for Hate” policy implemented by Dr. Morton. Never before has any group spoken up for leadership for the sake of the student athletes. Much of the student body, but especially the student athletes around the school have expressed a lot of interest in the program. Before its official start at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, the club has already bolstered thirteen members from the extensive athletic student body.
The Captain’s Club essentially focuses on the semi-monthly “Huddles”, where guest speakers from the local
organization “The Fellowship of Christian Athletes”, who are athletes who have experienced the importance of a leadership role on their respective sports teams. However, more than athlete guest speakers, this collaboration with “The Fellowship of Christian Athletes” gives student athletes and student non-athletes to learn from the best role models. To these three founders of the great program, Jay Goodson, Ryan Injaian, and Beigen Roper,  the program serves as a school-wide program that serves to guide the students so that they can become leaders. The founders are hoping that the guest speakers and the anecdotes and the life lessons that they learn from their various experiences can help to positively influence these student athletes and student non-athletes. Additionally, the founders expressed a lot interest to set up meetings for the club that would happen every week that could allow the students to collaborate together and share their mutual experience from listening to the various guest speakers. Goodson also showed his interest in allowing the guest speakers to make regular appearances, probably one appearance per marking period or even more frequent, depending on the circumstances.
The primary incentive of the founders has been to give Cherry Hill West something to be very proud about. For sure, on top of the positive reception from the in-school anti-bullying state mandated teaching policies and the “No Place for Hate” policy most recently implemented by our principal, Dr. Morton, this program will add even more positive fervor to the anti-bullying policies that West has readily embraced in the last few years. However, more than a simple anti-bullying program, the Captain’s Club allows the future leaders of not our school community but also of the greater community of the entire world to grow and prosper together. Most definitely, the Captain’s Club will allow more leaders to group together and learn and become great together.
If interested in the great work done by the Captain’s Club, please contact Club advisor, Mr. McMaster.