This year, the West High Football Captains were selected through the trust of their team. The 2025 team captains are Carson Neilson, Melakhi Hickey, Deztin McMurrin and Torian Doss. With the achievement of this honor, one of the four Captains, Hickey, reflected on his new role this year on the team and how it felt to be selected.
“Seeing that my team can put full trust in me, and knowing that I can make the right decisions to lead is a big honor,” said Hickey. The captains worked hard for their spots on the team, showing that they can be trusted on the field as well as off the field. The determination the Captains have is shown through the unity with the team. The standards captains are held to in the presence of their team are extremely high, as they are expected to be a figure for them to look up to and someone they can lean on in times of need.
All the captains lead in practices every day to get better and strive for their goal of success. The hard work they put in on and off the field is crucial to the teams performance. When game time comes around, the work they put in behind the scenes is expected to prevail on the field. Their main goal is to do their best and to show the other teams that they came to win, and they will do that by keeping their composure and continuing to give it their all. For the captains, their leadership isn’t just about improving their own game, but improving the team. “I not only wanna see myself get better, but also my teammates on and off the field to help them be better student athletes, but also just better people in general,” said McMurrin.
Although they put in work, every game is still full of new challenges with new opponents that test the integrity of the team. “A Waterloo West football captain is expected to lead by example on the field with effort, communication, composure, and accountability, and off the field by showing strong character, commitment to school, respect for others, and mentoring younger teammates,” said Coach Lonnie Moore.
The team motto created this year is “Chase the Standard,” which means to focus on a higher level of performance, no matter the outcome, and fight for more as the season continues. The team has worked hard on and off the field, as well as through the summer, preparing for the season.
Doss reflected on the team, noting that the team cares for one another and the captains keep them moving forward. “My goal is to always bring the team together and encourage others. I know my impact comes from consistency and motivating my teammates during tough moments”. There are times when the stress is high, but the captains remind the team to strive for more and to stay motivated and moving.
Coming back from last year, making it to the playoffs created big anticipation to start off the 2025 season, as well as the games to come. Their hard work and determination led to their first game and biggest rivalry against Waterloo East. Starting off this season with wins against Waterloo East, Dubuque Senior and their recent loss against Dubuque Hempstead, the captains continue to lead the team. “We have a hard schedule, but I think we’re gonna bounce back and end the season good,” shared Nielsen.
