From: raphael.nelson@dalton.edu
To: "Warblers"
Subject: Regionals and Nationals and Captaining Oh My

Hi guys

Okay I don't need to say it, you know that wasn't us at our best. More importantly, it wasn't the us I know we can be and frankly, we were just lucky we weren't up against someone like Vocal Adrenaline because they would have wiped the floor with us.

In short, that's not the group I want to see at Nationals or we won't deserve to be there at all. You guys are all insanely talented, that's why you're a part of this group, and we all have issues, that's natural, but we need to be able to leave them at the door and focus everything on our performance.

I know this sounds a bit much coming from me so first off, I'd like to apologise to all of you for not being there emotionally for the last couple of months. It wasn't fair on you and it wasn't what a captain is supposed to do. I promise I'll be the captain you deserve from here on out and I pledge right now to do anything I can to get us to Nationals in the best condition possible.

On that note, you guys are the ones who elected me Captain so I'd just like to go over what this means. Basically, it's the background work. Song choice and all that is down to the council and they've done an amazing job. What I do is act as the face of the Warblers, liaise with Mr Holden and the Show Choir officials, basically do all the running around in the background and representing us as a whole so you guys can just concentrate on being your awesome selves.

Part of this also involves having a working relationship with the other captains. I talk with Alex and Rachel outside of competitions all the time and I consider them both friends but when we're at a competition, it's not just me hanging out with them, it's me representing all of you. I know several of you are friends with other show choir members and I get that you'll want to talk to them and commiserate or what have you but when we're at a competition, let me talk to them captain to captain first. I'm not trying to pick on anyone, and I'm sorry if I was upset before, but that's just how we do things. I know it seems snobby and that but, well, Dalton is kind of a snobby school. The thing is, it's not really a nice job, having to shake hands and say "Good job" when we beat them, and it's my job to do.

The thing is we're not acting like a proper team. It's no one's fault so I'm definitely not saying that - if anything it's my fault for not helping us bond more. We've all got talent and at a certain level we can fake it but when we get to Nationals, we'll be up against teams that haven't changed members in years, who know each other inside out and who work seamlessly together and then it will be obvious.

I'm not going to live in a fantasy world where everyone loves everyone and gets along perfectly but, once we're in the rehearsal room, we need to just work together as a team. The council members and I are going to be discussing this further but we do need to work on this. It won't be anything scary, just ways for us to work together better. But for now, just get a good night's sleep and rest up this weekend. I know everyone's being working their asses off and you honestly did sound awesome so it paid off.

Okay, sorry for the essay. If anyone wants to talk to me about it or anything, you can always email/text/come and see me.

All the best
Raf