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Gregory De La Rosa
Professor Kane
English 115
26 October 2016
Common Goal
People in general have different ways of seeing things in which explains a lot why there
is so much hatred and violence in the world. However, there are many cases when people from
different backgrounds come together to reach a particular goal. Even though, they do not see the
world from the same perspective, they somehow find a way to thrive for a specific goal in which
they can all enjoy. People are able to come up with a composite reality by showing a passion for
a certain activity such as a soccer team. Although, they might be in the game for different
reasons, at the end they are trying to achieve the ultimate glory in which can lead to global fame.
Without one player that is not doing his part, the team cannot reach their goal, if they do not
work together, in which includes seeing the same perspective of the game.
However, soccer is a team sport, which most players understand that concept, so they
have to come up with a compromise that will not only please both sides but enable them to see
the same reality. The most obvious one, are the players which are responsible for playing the
game. Next is the manager which has to help show the players how the game should be played in
order to get the right results. The other staff members are responsible for promoting the team,
curing the injured players, and the assisting the manager by giving him advice. Like Platos story
The Allegory of the Cave each one of the prisoners sees the shadow in different positions so
they each saw a different image. It is the same for a soccer team which sometimes the players
might not meet eye to eye with the manager or even with the other teammates. However, soccer

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is a team sport, which most players understand that concept, so they have to come up with a
compromise that will not only please both sides but enable them to see the same reality.
However, there are cases when someone starts to abuse their power because either the player or
the coach starts to believe the other players are pawns in a game of chess.
When a player becomes famous, their attitude changes and they start expecting to have
everyone listen to them. During the Zimbardo Stanford Prison Experiment, the students how
were given the role of the police officers began to take their role a bit too seriously and abused
the prisoners. This is because they see the world from a different perspective and they have to
either have someone bring them down a step or two, or be revoked of their power entirely. In the
Zimbardo experiment there was no one that controlled to level of seriousness that the experiment
would have been needed, therefore, leading Zimbardo plus the other police officers to do as they
pleased. When it comes to a soccer team some players become more famous than other players
and start acting on their own behalf instead of working as a team. In this case, this is when
communication fails because the person already sees the world very different than the rest of the
players. That is when the manager has to step in and either given the player a warning or simply
sell the player. Some people might think that selling the star player is a bad idea because most
fans will not agree with the managers decision. If the star player is making it impossible for the
other team mates to play well then they are better off without him than with him. Most managers
are willing to take the risk of giving up their star player if it means that they can have will be
able to play as a team. At the end of the day, the fans are going to be more pleased with winning
a title than losing it because of one player.
When people are in a community there has to be some sense of balance between
everyone so there is no chaos in the group. Like the United States government, there is the

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checks and balances that makes sure that none of the branches of government are becoming too
powerful to the point where they surpass their counterparts. struggle to both govern and to
contain government. (Benvenisti and Downs). In this case the struggle is in organized soccer
teams. In which, have been known to have players and managers abuse their power or
popularity to gain more money or a higher status. Checks and balances are not only for
controlling government power; it is also for making sure that all teams play on a level playing
field. There is another organization that monitors the teams to make sure no foul play is present
to keep it fair for everyone.
In order to gain that sense of balance in the team there has to be communication
between the players and the manager. The manager is the leader of the group and has to make
objective decisions that benefit the team based on his observation. The manager acts as a
mediator that makes sure that the team is playing well or makes changes in order for the team
to start playing well. Depending how the players, themselves, interpret the choices of the
manager may affect the balance of the team. For example, if the player gets substituted in the
middle of the game, the player, knows it is for one of two reasons. First, that they are tired and
the coach needs to make some tactical substitutions. Second, they are playing badly so the
coach thinks they have nothing to offer to the game anymore. This can affect the player selfesteem and it will affect the overall performance of the team if one player is not doing well.
The players themselves have to communicate between themselves and form a sense of
trust to make a single community. In a professional soccer team, there are going to be language
barriers between the players that does not allow the players to communicate through talking.
The players have to communicate in a different manner so everyone on the team can
understand them. Their actions during practice and on the field can help a player gain

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confidence or lose it. If a player passes the ball to another one, it portrays a sense of trust that
the players trust the other one that they will not lose the ball and increase their chances of
scoring. However, if the player chooses to pass the ball to another player, it shows that the one
with the ball does not trust the other one enough to pass him the ball. Therefore, the player who
did not receive the ball has to prove that he can be trusted by showing his skills.
As times passes this form of communication transforms into trust because they can
almost telepathically read each others mind. In the fast pace game players only have a split
second to decide what they are going to do with the ball. The split second can make a huge
difference in any game. The manager, which is the higher power has to make sure that the
players are working together in order to create this sense of trust between players. As said
before, the manager is the mediator who has to make sure that the players are adjusting to each
other. And if they are not the manager has to show a sense of power to force the players to start
trusting each other. On the other hand, the referees, act like a judge by monitoring the actions
of the players. If one of the players gets a bad call the captain has to fight for his men. In which
creates trust. The captain is the player who the coach trusts the most to manage the team from
the inside. Usually the captain is the oldest player, and has a sense of what is going to work
and what does not. When everything is going wrong for the team the players look for guidance
from the captain so he can give them advice of how to turn the game around.
The two important things that make up a community are a sense of balance and
communication. Without one or the other, the community, in this case a soccer team, cannot
achieve what they are after in the first place. The passion for an activity brings a whole
community together for better or for worse. With is they have a sense of the same reality even

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though, in truth, is that they see the game differently, depending on their role that they
contribute to the team.

Work Cited
Benvenisti, Eyal. Downs, George. National Court, Domestic Democracy, and
the Evolution of International Law. Vol.20. EJIL 2009.
Plato. Allegory of the Cave.
Zimbardo, Philip. Stanford Prison Experiment. 1971.

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