Ethics and Moral Fiber Have Been Tested.

¶ … ethics and moral fiber have been tested. One of the more salient examples which comes to mind and which I believe is emblematic of my propensity for learning about and conducting business in contemporary society occurred when I was a junior in high school. I have played soccer on a select team ever since I was nine years old, and during that time I had the honor of playing with many of the same group of teammates.

By the time we reached high school we had become friends, and had taken helped one another in a multitude of situations (both on and off the field) in overseas tournaments in Japan, Scandinavia, and the California State Cup. My team had been fortunate to have the same group of coaches with us through the years, a fact which we readily believed attested to our advanced development as both soccer players and as young men.

During our third year of high school, however, the last of that initial group of coaches moved out of town leaving us without a leader. My father, who did not have nearly the degree of experience playing and coaching soccer as most of my team's other coaches, took the initiative to stand in as our head coach -- largely so we could continue to compete in tournaments and maintain the tight camaraderie that we had grown to foster as a unit.

Although my father had spent the better part of five years involved as a co-coach and a head coach for my older brother's team, his natural affinity for the game's finer points was decidedly lacking. Night after night I would see him studying films of coaching techniques and other teams, attend seminars and clinics on the weekend, and talk to other coaches on select teams to improve his knowledge.

Still, he was never able to quite gel with the rest of the team like our previous coaches, and soon found disfavor with a number of our key players -- who also happened to be some of my best friends. The primary source of conflict was tactical in nature. My father advocated a style of play wherein we placed the ball behind the defenders and simply outran them to it and positioned well-timed crosses into the middle of the goal.

Such a strategy is typical of house teams or those who play recreationally, and is considered somewhat amateurish by our season group of veteran players, who disparaged such tactic as emblematic of kickball and preferred a more sophisticated style of intricate passing to reach the other team's goal.

My father eventually benched three of our starters because they would not conform to his new tactics, which placed an undue amount of distress on not only the other players but on me, as his son, to make the diplomatic effort of appeasing both sides. I was in a position in which my loyalty to my friends and teammates, as well as my dedication to the team, was tested against my filial affection and respect for my father.

I approached him when I heard that the three starters -- and a couple of the other players who had been on the team since we were in elementary school -- were considering quitting. I was at a loss of words initially. I knew how hard my father had tried to be a good coach, and moreover I knew that his goal in doing so was to ultimately aid the team he was on the verge of disbanding. I.