The Captain's Story
When the concept of The Trevor Trophy was first finalised late into the evening at Hudson House in Twickenham in 1995 after the success of the pilot event, The Hudson Challenge, it was agreed that the teams would need a leader.
Inevitably the inaugural captains were the two main instigators of the event, Lord Trevor & Prich.
It must be noted that the name Lord Trevor (LT) evolved in later years, but is used as this is the name synonymous with said person for this event.
Captain's Duties
The main roles as Captain were, firstly, to put together a team for the annual challenge match, then followed by the onerous task of chasing up payments. With further changes in recent times, as the Trevor continues to evolve, the new organising group has taken on this responsibility.
As the event drew closer, the key responsibility was the "handicap negotiations", in the early days a fiery and often contentious evening with no quarter given. The Captain often went into "battle" with a lieutenant-in-arms to strengthen the debate!! When the situation seemed to be reaching boiling point, and with many trevorers now playing club golf, the decision was made to use these handicaps to reduce the negotiation process. This occurred for the first time in 2007.
In later years this process has become a far more gentile affair, perhaps because the sporting juices are now dampened, a little bit of maturity and also because the players' standards change very little on an annual basis. For the 2013 event, a new system was introduced to provide further clarity to the process whilst creating a structure of handicapping that favours the losing team at each Trevor.
With these changes now in place, the Captain's role, once he has selected his team, is freed up to fully concentrate on the golf, a little work on his pre-Trevor campaign to fire up his boys and make sure they are as prepared as can be, then of course the main event leading the team as the weekend unfolds - ,this can be enjoyable, stressful, even painful. But as all captains will attest, there is no better feeling than when holding the Trevor Trophy after a triumphant weekend, and any pain on a losing weekend is soon dispelled by the fun most captains have leading their boys.
Captain's Roll of Honour
Initially there was no formal process for change of captaincy, possibly because the players had not looked into the future at this time and seen that The Trevor was here to stay (a poor mistrevor - LT).
Indeed LT retired after one year to concentrate his efforts on organising and running the event; he felt that he could not fulfil the captain's role properly with his other duties over the weekend of the event. Therefore a new OHA skipper was appointed in year two.
After the conclusion of the third year, the matter of captaincy was discussed and it was decided that every trevorer should get the opportunity to enjoy the experience. The ruling was that captains would change on a regular basis with a minimum of two years in office before passing on the baton to another trevorer, not a rule set in stone, but a recommendation.
The outgoing captain would also select his successor and announce it at the end of his last Trevor in office.
So the process was now set in place with the following role of honour (in chronological order)
OHA Captains ROW Captains
Inevitably the inaugural captains were the two main instigators of the event, Lord Trevor & Prich.
It must be noted that the name Lord Trevor (LT) evolved in later years, but is used as this is the name synonymous with said person for this event.
Captain's Duties
The main roles as Captain were, firstly, to put together a team for the annual challenge match, then followed by the onerous task of chasing up payments. With further changes in recent times, as the Trevor continues to evolve, the new organising group has taken on this responsibility.
As the event drew closer, the key responsibility was the "handicap negotiations", in the early days a fiery and often contentious evening with no quarter given. The Captain often went into "battle" with a lieutenant-in-arms to strengthen the debate!! When the situation seemed to be reaching boiling point, and with many trevorers now playing club golf, the decision was made to use these handicaps to reduce the negotiation process. This occurred for the first time in 2007.
In later years this process has become a far more gentile affair, perhaps because the sporting juices are now dampened, a little bit of maturity and also because the players' standards change very little on an annual basis. For the 2013 event, a new system was introduced to provide further clarity to the process whilst creating a structure of handicapping that favours the losing team at each Trevor.
With these changes now in place, the Captain's role, once he has selected his team, is freed up to fully concentrate on the golf, a little work on his pre-Trevor campaign to fire up his boys and make sure they are as prepared as can be, then of course the main event leading the team as the weekend unfolds - ,this can be enjoyable, stressful, even painful. But as all captains will attest, there is no better feeling than when holding the Trevor Trophy after a triumphant weekend, and any pain on a losing weekend is soon dispelled by the fun most captains have leading their boys.
Captain's Roll of Honour
Initially there was no formal process for change of captaincy, possibly because the players had not looked into the future at this time and seen that The Trevor was here to stay (a poor mistrevor - LT).
Indeed LT retired after one year to concentrate his efforts on organising and running the event; he felt that he could not fulfil the captain's role properly with his other duties over the weekend of the event. Therefore a new OHA skipper was appointed in year two.
After the conclusion of the third year, the matter of captaincy was discussed and it was decided that every trevorer should get the opportunity to enjoy the experience. The ruling was that captains would change on a regular basis with a minimum of two years in office before passing on the baton to another trevorer, not a rule set in stone, but a recommendation.
The outgoing captain would also select his successor and announce it at the end of his last Trevor in office.
So the process was now set in place with the following role of honour (in chronological order)
OHA Captains ROW Captains
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As the records indicate, only three captains have achieved a 100% win record. Not surprisingly two being trevorers with years of golf experience and pedigree, JG for the OHA and Dronny for the ROW.
The great surprise is arguably the success Kill enjoyed in this role with his two wins perhaps inspired by a return to his favourite venue, the links at Princes. On a personal note, these two years also broke a long run of singles defeats with a victory and half whilst in office.
Dronny's record was originally only based on one year, but he returned for his second year over 10 years later, again a winner. The mid to late 2000's proving a time with a few captaincy issues. Firstly Jules had to relinquish his duties in 2006 due to work commitments (difficult to believe - LT!!) so The Headmaster took over the baton for a one year sojourn, the year of Dronny's success.
Jules returned in 2007 but not to face Dronny, beset with personal issues that led to his late withdrawal. Medsey stood
in with great success, but his own problem arose the following year as injury prevented him playing in 2008. However, being a top trevorer, this did not prevent him from fulfilling his duties and he duly became the one and only (to date) non-playing captain at Princes.
Perhaps the captaincy disruption at this time affected team harmony within the OHA ranks and, ultimately performance, as the records show a 0% win record for both Jules (2 years) and Jim (1 year). They were the first captains to fail to win a team point since LT with his one and only year as captain as far back as year one, 1996, ten years earlier. Sadly Sarge joined this unwanted roll of honour in 2012; he was beset by problems with availability in his years of office and this, perhaps proved to be a significant reason for his teams results. Clacks joined this unwanted list in 2021 unluckily being in office at a time when the ROW seem at the peak of their powers.
Another captaincy saga reared its head in 2014 when Kev, fresh from a triumphant first year in office, had to withdraw from the event after a recurrence of his long-term neck problem. So, like Dronny, he passed over the baton after a one year 100% record with Colin stepping in to replace him as captain. This is the third time a captain has passed on the baton after one year for personal reasons, both previous times occurring at the 2006 Trevor (Dronny & Jules).
The consequence of this change for a short period the captain's from both sides were in line, but Dronny's return in 2017 means that they can, once again, pit their wits against a different opponent in their two years in office rather than the same captain.
The 2016 Trevor also saw another first as Colin had to leave the event early due to a bereavement, thereby becoming the first playing captain to not only miss the singles, but also to not be present to collect the trophy when retaining the Trevor after the epic tie.
In 2018 Hoody passed on the captaincy armband to Clacks and with Grant in charge of the ROW boys, fittingly we had captains from bonnie Scotland for our first foray north of the border. Och aye!!
What further captaincy tales are around the corner?? Time will tell.
The great surprise is arguably the success Kill enjoyed in this role with his two wins perhaps inspired by a return to his favourite venue, the links at Princes. On a personal note, these two years also broke a long run of singles defeats with a victory and half whilst in office.
Dronny's record was originally only based on one year, but he returned for his second year over 10 years later, again a winner. The mid to late 2000's proving a time with a few captaincy issues. Firstly Jules had to relinquish his duties in 2006 due to work commitments (difficult to believe - LT!!) so The Headmaster took over the baton for a one year sojourn, the year of Dronny's success.
Jules returned in 2007 but not to face Dronny, beset with personal issues that led to his late withdrawal. Medsey stood
in with great success, but his own problem arose the following year as injury prevented him playing in 2008. However, being a top trevorer, this did not prevent him from fulfilling his duties and he duly became the one and only (to date) non-playing captain at Princes.
Perhaps the captaincy disruption at this time affected team harmony within the OHA ranks and, ultimately performance, as the records show a 0% win record for both Jules (2 years) and Jim (1 year). They were the first captains to fail to win a team point since LT with his one and only year as captain as far back as year one, 1996, ten years earlier. Sadly Sarge joined this unwanted roll of honour in 2012; he was beset by problems with availability in his years of office and this, perhaps proved to be a significant reason for his teams results. Clacks joined this unwanted list in 2021 unluckily being in office at a time when the ROW seem at the peak of their powers.
Another captaincy saga reared its head in 2014 when Kev, fresh from a triumphant first year in office, had to withdraw from the event after a recurrence of his long-term neck problem. So, like Dronny, he passed over the baton after a one year 100% record with Colin stepping in to replace him as captain. This is the third time a captain has passed on the baton after one year for personal reasons, both previous times occurring at the 2006 Trevor (Dronny & Jules).
The consequence of this change for a short period the captain's from both sides were in line, but Dronny's return in 2017 means that they can, once again, pit their wits against a different opponent in their two years in office rather than the same captain.
The 2016 Trevor also saw another first as Colin had to leave the event early due to a bereavement, thereby becoming the first playing captain to not only miss the singles, but also to not be present to collect the trophy when retaining the Trevor after the epic tie.
In 2018 Hoody passed on the captaincy armband to Clacks and with Grant in charge of the ROW boys, fittingly we had captains from bonnie Scotland for our first foray north of the border. Och aye!!
What further captaincy tales are around the corner?? Time will tell.