But those numbers have been creeping up slightly in the past

Ive played my last game as captain. It was a pretty enjoyable match to go out on, and I won the toss.It will take some adjusting to running around without that title next year. Will I run out onto the ground second, or last? Im not sure where Ill fit.Captaining the Saints for the past 11 years has been an incredible honour and its something Ill certainly miss, but the time is right for someone else to lead the club.Leadership is something Ive always prided myself on, and Ill continue to lead strongly next year - it just wont be in an official capacity.Ive always maintained that whatever is in the clubs best interest, I would do. If me continuing in the role was the right move, I was committed to leading again. Richo and I have discussed the captaincy on multiple occasions over the past three years and that dialogue continued this year. Based on the development of our younger leaders, we have decided its time for someone else to step into the role.Im totally comfortable with the decision, but I have to admit I have a bit of an emotional attachment to being captain. Its a position I have a lot of respect for and I guess its shaped my identity to a certain degree. Im honored to have held the position for such a long period of time, so therell be a little bit of an adjustment now. Ill have to do a few things differently to allow the next person to grow the way they need to.Despite captaining a few teams in my junior days, I certainly wasnt 100 percent ready to be skipper when I first took it on in 2005. However, like any young leader I grew into it. In Robert Harvey, Fraser Gehrig, Andrew Thompson and Aaron Hamill, I had a plethora of fantastic mentors to learn from and they offered invaluable council. In making this decision now, we have afforded the next captain the same level of support as theyll still be able to utilise me, Leigh Montagna and a few other senior players as sounding boards.Captains are constantly challenged and the ability to learn on the job is imperative. Ive always been an assertive leader - which is one of my great strengths. But on occasions that strength has become a weakness when I have been either too demanding or demonstrative. I recall challenging a young player publically in a team meeting and it had a really adverse effect on them for probably a month - it crushed their confidence. In my eyes I was just holding them accountable in front of the group but they obviously didnt view it the same way. Thankfully the player involved rebounded after that down month and hes now a really strong player for us, but I had to realise everyone is different, and I couldnt treat everyone the same. This is but one lesson any new captain must learn and Im excited about the opportunity to help fast-track my successors development in areas such as this.Ill have to try to tread a fine line next year in some respects, ensuring I allow our next skipper to make his mark, but driving high standards for the good of the team will never be something I refrain from doing.Obviously a captain does more than just toss the coin at the start of the game and interact with media.Essentially the captain is an extension of both the playing and coaching groups; a bridge between the two. As captain Ive always been in constant dialogue with coaches, understanding their messaging and making sure the players understand that. Since Richo has been coach, in our last meeting before taking the field, hell go through our plan as to how we can win and how we want to play, but then Ill discuss expectations around effort and execution of everyones role. If there are any new players in the team Ill address them in front of the group on what we expect from any player pulling on a Saints jumper.Ive always been strong at articulating a message during the pre-game or half-time speech so everyone understands it and is inspired by it. Although after 11 years Im sure Ive been quite repetitive at times and sounded a bit like a broken record! Thats the challenge that comes with longevity in the role - trying to keep the message fresh and finding different ways to keep the group motivated.Being captain can definitely consume you - youre constantly thinking about the group and its biorhythms. Im not sure if that feeling will reduce because the title is gone - Ill have to wait and see.Looking back at my time as captain is an interesting one. We went through a period of strong, sustained success under Grant Thomas and Ross Lyon without quite reaching our ultimate goal, and then soon after we committed to a deliberate, transparent rebuild. That period was particularly challenging given the expectation to keep winning and play finals. When you fall short of that, its tough. That challenged me in different ways as a leader but Im potentially even more proud of the group through that period than I was when we were absolutely flying. With the group we had through that period of sustained success it was easier as captain because we had so many leaders. So to see how far weve come in the past couple of years, watching the young guys become strong leaders, Im really proud of that.Its always difficult judging leadership from the outside, but two captains I have an enormous amount of respect for are Bob Murphy and Luke Hodge. Murphy really inspired me last year with what he was able to do with a similar group at the Bulldogs - we had similarly strong teams in the late 2000s and both went through serious rebuilds, but Bobs leadership through that really impressed me me. Hodgeys done everything and clearly three flags as skipper speak to his success as a leader. I like his uncompromising style. He appears to hold his group incredibly accountable and is so ruthless on the field. Theyre my two standouts from the current crop of captains.As for who I think will take over from me, its difficult to settle on one name. Thats a good problem to have and is a reflection of our even spread of candidates. Itll probably come from the young guys in the leadership group currently - Jarryn Geary, Jack Steven, David Armitage, Mav Weller and Jack Newnes are all exceptionally strong leaders who have supremely high standards. Thats why Im stepping down now - because there are a number of really good leaders coming through.The club will certainly be in great hands with whoever we choose as captain, and Ill do everything I can to support them. I also know Ill be first to mock them if they stumble during their first pre-game address! Jon Lester Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. 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Fergie Jenkins Cubs Jersey . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. RIO DE JANEIRO -- When she was 11, Simone Manuel came home and asked her mother a question: Why werent there more people who looked like her in swimming?Mom didnt have an answer.We got on the internet and did some searches and we came up with some information, Sharron Manuel said. At that moment she really realized she was OK with who she was. It was important for me to do that for her because even at that time I saw she could do something special.Her parents were in the stands behind the medal podium at the Olympic Aquatics Center on Thursday night to see their daughter swim her signature event at the Rio Games. When it was over, Marc and Sharron Manuel couldnt immediately see the videoboard with the results.The 20-year-old from Sugar Land, Texas, had just become the first African American woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming. Her time of 52.70 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle was an American and Olympic record.Then my husband saw Olympic record and saw she had gotten first, Sharron told The Associated Press by phone Friday. We know how hard she had worked and she had sacrificed a lot to get to this point.While the world and social media lauded her milestone, Manuel didnt have time to celebrate. She was right back in the pool on Friday, qualifying 11th in the 50-meter freestyle preliminaries. She was staying off her phone that froze up because of an overload of text messages and calls.I just wanted to re-focus and move forward from the 100, she said. I havent really gotten a chance to take everything in, but thats OK because I want to do well in the rest of my events this week.Manuel recognizes the significance of her achievement, yet she has never wanted to be defined solely by the color of her skin. After her win, she mentioned police brutality in the U.S. and said she hoped her victory helps mend the nations racial divide in some way.She wants to be seen as an individual who just like everyone else has worked hard to be where she is, Sharron Manuel said. She would like to be recognized for her merits and dedication. Its not just about her skin color. She understands that its a part of it.At the same time, Manuel knows that by winning Olympic gold in a sport that still has few people of color, especially in the United States, she carries what she described as the weight of the black community.She put her head in her hands and wept in the pool after she tied 16-year-old Canadian Penny Oleksiak and realized the depth of her achievement.I would like there to be a day where there are more of us and its not `Simone, the black swimmer, she said, because the title `black swimmer makes it seem like Im not supposed to be able to win a gold medal or Im not supposed to be able to break records and thats not true because I work just as hard as anybody else.As a child, Manuel always loved the water. When she was 18 months old and her mothers back was briefly turned, she scurried into the bathtub fully clothed to play with her brother.We would have to watch her if it was bath time because she would always trry to sneak off to get in the bathtub with him because she loved the water, her mother said.dddddddddddd We didnt know then that this is what we were in for.She started swimming at a pool near her childhood home in Brooklyn, New York, where the other kids were mostly Chinese from her school located in Chinatown. Manuel learned Mandarin as a result.She stuck with swimming while her brother played basketball. In 2010, she experienced a turning point, being chosen for USA Swimmings diversity select camp, where she met other talented minorities. That inspired and motivated her to keep going. Now at Stanford, she is majoring in science, technology and society.Before Manuel, there were only a handful of minorities on the U.S. national team. Cullen Jones was the best known, having won two golds and two silvers at the last two Olympics. He is a major proponent of USA Swimmings Make a Splash campaign that seeks to prevent drownings by teaching youngsters to swim with an emphasis on minorities.African Americans make up just 1.3 percent of USA Swimmings 337,084 members, according to the governing bodys 2015 membership data. But those numbers have been creeping up slightly in the past few years.Swimming has struggled to attract minorities in part because typically those who cant swim had parents who also could not swim and were fearful of drowning. According to USA Swimming statistics, 70 percent of African Americans and 60 percent of Hispanic and Latino children cannot swim compared to 40 percent of whites. Black children drown at a rate nearly three times higher than their white peers.A generation ago, African-Americans were largely denied access to pools and so it never became part of their recreational culture to swim. In the 1960s, many whites left cities for private pools and clubs in the suburbs, where segregation continued to exist.JaVe Bonner, a pre-med student at George Mason University, said Manuels win is significant to her because she was told when she was younger that she couldnt go into a neighborhood pool since her skin was dirty.To me, this win shows that black people are resilient and soar through adversity, she wrote in an email.Jones, who didnt make this years Olympic team, tweeted out his pride in Manuel, calling her achievement amazing. Congrats also poured in from Tony Award-winning actor and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda of the Broadway smash Hamilton and NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.Manuel was quick to single out Jones, Olympic and Stanford teammate Lia Neal and former Olympic swimmer Maritza Correia for blazing a path for her.The gold medal wasnt just for me, it was for people who have come before me and inspired me to stay in the sport, and for people who believe they cant do it, she said. I hope Im an inspiration for others to get out there and try swimming. They might be pretty good at it.---Associated Press Writer Alina Hartounian in Phoenix contributed to this report. ' ' '