Developing Leaders on the Field and in the Community

A strong team must be lead by a strong leadership group. Developing a strong leadership group, who are consistent in displaying leadership qualities both on and off-field, has been a core area of focus for the Perth Football Club over the last few years.

The leadership group at the Perth Football Club is a group of seven players, voted on by their teammates and endorsed by the Football Department. In 2019, the captain of the group is Corey Yeo.

When talking to Corey about his experience with the leadership group and how developing a team of strong leaders affects the community, he provided plenty of insights.

Yeo said “it is definitely an honor and a good achievement to be chosen. Everyone in the group all shares the same values and beliefs. We all have different traits that we bring to the group and we all feel very privileged to be a part of it.”

The different traits that each member of the group has makes the group very approachable and relatable to different players. Yeo said, “some of the members are more vocal, some lead in different ways, some are more directional with their voice and some lead by the way they play on the ground.” These various traits allow for each player on the team to have someone they can relate to and feel comfortable with in the leadership group.

Not only is it Yeo’s first year as captain, it is also his first time being part of the leadership group. He said being captain was challenging at first, and remains conscious that there is something new he must learn each week. Yeo believes the biggest challenge of being the leader of the team is that he feels every loss himself and responsible every time the team puts on a poor performance.

In the beginning of every season, the team attends a leadership camp, which has the main focus of developing leadership skills. The camp is run by Brett Warner and is instructed by guys who have military backgrounds. Each year is different, depending on where the team stands. The 2018 camp focussed on breaking down the players down a bit, and this year it was more driven by players.

This camp is essential in developing the skill sets required of leaders, while also helping the entire team develop these assets. Yeo said that the main goal for the leadership group in developing younger players is to prepare them to one day take over for the current leadership group.

This is done by including the younger guys in everything and letting them share their opinions. Therefore, the entire team needs these essential skills which, according to Yeo, are honesty, integrity, an open mind and being able to understand that everyone’s mind sets are different.

Working with a wide range of personalities and life experiences has taught Yeo many lessons in his first few months as a captain. When discussing this, he stated “people take things differently so you have to try to work out a way to convey it to each different person in a way that they would react well to.”

“There are a lot of things that come behind the scenes. This is my first time in the leadership group and it has taken me a while to get my head around the behind the scenes aspects. Also, a lot of younger players look up to you and you need to keep yourself accountable. If you want to push the standards for the rest of the group you must keep yourself honest as well.”

The things the Yeo has learned from being a part of the leadership group have helped not only in on field situations, but also off the field and at work. He said it has taught him to take ownership for his actions and if something goes wrong to accept it and move forward rather than looking for someone else to blame. Yeo believes that this has helped him gain respect from his teammates, his boss and his coworkers.

The leadership group has been a great asset to the PFC and has allowed players to develop further on and off the field. It gives the players structure and skills needed to succeed not just in footy, but also as leaders in the community.