Alcohol Issue in Sport - Essay Example

Persuasion Essay Drinking was the reason why the team did not win the national championship last year. At the beginning of this season, the senior members decided that this season should be a “dry” one meaning no alcohol use and the teammates agreed. Furthermore, all the team members agreed that a violation of these rules would lead to a one game suspension. In addition, all the coaches agreed. A nonmember informed me that he saw Joseph at a party drinking. As the team captain, I have to stick to the rules despite Joseph being my best friend. Joseph will have to be out of the game and apologize to his teammates. Failure to be out the game voluntarily and apologize to fellow teammates, I will have no choice but to report Joseph to the coach. Joseph violated a major rule. The captains explicitly relayed the rules to the team members before the season begun and made it clear that it was vital for them to follow the rules. The team further agreed that drinking would lead to a one game suspension. Joseph, as a teammate, agreed to this policy. Therefore, there is no excuse for what Joseph did as he was aware of the consequences and the team’s goal. Joseph is my best friend. Therefore, he should respect my decision. He knows very well how dedicated I am to the team and winning the national championship. Moreover, he knows my work ethics and the importance of following the rules. I did not expect this from him as he is supposed to set a good example for the team. On my part, as the captain, associating with people who break rules and being lenient on them will not be setting a good example. Alcohol has many effects on a person. The dehydration and lack of energy, in particular, will affect Joseph. The team is on the verge of playing the biggest game of the season against the biggest rivals. Therefore, the training is intensive so that the team can succeed in beating the rivals. Dehydration and lack of energy will prevent Joseph from training as hard as he should. Thus, he should really consider the possibility of a poor performance. If I do not punish Joseph, the team might find out about the drinking and get angry, as it will be favoritism. The anger will affect the team’s performance, as there will be no coordination. Moreover, the other members will feel like their drinking and breaking other rules is justified. They will not expect a punishment if they broke any of the rules. If the coach was to find out that Joseph went out drinking and refused to sit out the game, he might actually kick him out of the team. The coach entrusted me to enforce the rules. Avoiding punishment will not look good for both of us, more so on his part. I care about him, as he is my closest friend. Therefore, I would not like it if the coach kicked him out of the team. The team and the season meant the world to me. As this is my senior year, I am excited about leading the team to the national championships. Not punishing Joseph will jeopardize my position as the team captain. The coach might appoint another captain if he found out that I knew about Joseph’s drinking and decided to keep quiet. This is not fair. The teammates are all friends and they respect each other. Joseph coming clean in front of them and apologizing for what he did ought to be very easy. I believe that no team member will give him a hard time. In fact, I think that they will admire him and maybe even look up to him. Furthermore, we are all age mates and we know the temptations involved. Joseph might learn a very valuable lesson from the whole experience, if he agreed to sit out of the game voluntarily. He will avoid all the temptations to drink in future. Every time an opportunity for drinking arises, he will remember sitting out the biggest game of the season. If I let him go without any punishment, there is no guarantee that he will not drink again as no lesson will be learnt from the whole experience. Joseph knows my work ethics and morals. Therefore, he should not put me in such a difficult position for true friends do not do that to each other. He should not expect me to keep quiet about it, as he clearly knows that that is not in my nature. As much as I want to do right by my friend, in the end I am not helping anyone. He should put himself in my shoes so that he can realize the difficult situation he is putting me into. Apologizing to the team is very important. At the end of the day, as much as they will be disappointed, they will respect Joseph for apologizing personally. In addition, he will have set a good example and it will encourage fellow members to adhere to the rules. The team will appreciate his honesty and will be okay with Joseph being in all future games. The punishment will ensure that Joseph has understood that what he did was wrong and might even feel guilty. This is a good thing as we will be sure that he will not repeat the same in future. If he does not feel like he did anything neither wrong nor feel guilty about it, chances are that he will break more rules in future. This experience might end up ruining our friendship. I am in a difficult situation as I care about both our friendship and the team’s success. Joseph should be more understanding. He messed up so he should fix it. Covering up for him will be bad for the team and punishing him might affect our friendship. Joseph should analyze the whole situation and consider my position too. If he is truly my friend, he will accept to sit out the game and apologize, with no hard feelings. As much as Joseph is apologetic, it does not change the fact that he drunk. If I let him play without any punishment, it will be unfair to the rest of the team. Even if Joseph does not have any injuries, his drinking will still have a negative effect on the team. The teammates will not react in a bad way when he comes forward, as they know they can overcome any situation as a team. If Joseph does not learn a lesson from this experience, at least I will have followed the procedure required. Even if he believes that I do not care about him, at the end of the day I want what is best for him and the team. Failure to be out the game voluntarily, and apologize to fellow teammates, I will have no choice but to report Joseph to the coach. As much as I care about our friendship, I do not want to lose my position as the captain. Therefore, I have to follow the rules for the sake of the team. Read More