Playing a game doesn't take character. Doing the right thing by a vulnerable woman does.

I was captivated by the following article written by Michael Coulter an Editor from The Age newspaper (extracts below in italics). For those not living in Australia I am sure you can nevertheless relate to the debate in your own countries. Within Australia there has been widespread debate arising regarding the increased number of reported and alleged cases against both well-known and local suburban footballers mistreating women. Coulter's piece struck a chord with me so much so that I wanted to share parts of it.

'Regardless of circumstance, anyone with power has a choice - and there is no doubt where power lies in a room full of drunk men and a lone woman. They can do the right thing, or the wrong thing.

It is widely held that the sum of a group of young men is less than its parts, but even the most feral bunch is still made up of individuals, all of them with a will of their own. Decisions define us, and if you decide to do wrong, it's on your head. It's not the booze, or the drugs or the lateness of the hour; it's not the cheering of your mates or the lure of the ample cleavage you've been ogling all night. It's you, and for the rest of your life you have to live with the knowledge that when the opportunity arose, you chose to be a despicable bastard...

It takes enormous character to defy a group of men who are, effectively, closer than brothers. Not footballing character, which is about overcoming pain and adversity, but the ability to tell right from wrong and the integrity to choose right.

Perhaps a minority of players will inevitably hurt others, and themselves, because the qualities of a good footballer are not necessarily the qualities of a good person. Sportsmen need physical courage, strength, calm under pressure, an appetite for inflicting and receiving pain, loyalty and the intense desire to impose their will on a situation. For them, many values we try to instil in children - honesty, respect, empathy and the moral courage to say ''no'' to your friends - are actual liabilities...

If you're man enough to stand in front of a marauding pack on the field, you should be man enough not to be part of one off it. If you can stand the disappointment of losing a grand final, you should be able to stand the disappointment of a woman changing her mind. So what if your night ends with a cup of Milo rather than a stray root? Life, as any coach will tell you, is full of setbacks. Be a man, and live with it.'