It's a rarity in WPIAL football, but Franklin Regional's Owen Sinclair was a clear choice to break the mold.
"Owen is the only returning captain from last year," says Panthers head coach Lance Getsy. "He's probably the first junior that had been made captain here in a long time."
"It's really gratifying for me to know how my teammates feel about me," Sinclair adds. "it just makes me want to keep doing that"
But it's not just about leadership on the football field. Sinclair – now a senior – is doing everything right off of it.
"It's stuff that's really important to me," he says. "I feel like it might not be important to other people, but it's stuff that I value and I think will help me later."
The senior has a 4.25 GPA, has his sights set on a ivy league, and always finds new ways to help out.
"The work ethic, for some reason, it just hits home for him," Getsy says. "He studies hard, he works hard at everything he does. Whether it's baseball, football or academics. I don't know really where it came from, but I know it's something we really stress, and he buys in to it."
But none leave an impact on him more than coaching youth football camps for several years.
"How much joy the kids get out of it when they're doing a drill, and you see them grow and do it right," he says. "It makes them feel good, and it makes me feel good."
That makes sense for a kid who hopes to have a lifelong relationship with football.
"It's really fun for me, and I think that's what's leading me to what I want to do later, coach football," Sinclair adds. "It's opening my eyes to that."
But before he can lead from the sidelines, he's focused on leading the Panthers to a winning season
"We're playing really physical, he says. "It's something we strive to be, a a physical team here. I think we're accomplishing that."
Adds Getsy: "That's a kid that'll play hurt. That's a kid that practices the same way he plays the game. That impression raises their level of practice. That's what you need to go far in 5A here."
