Friday was one of the more difficult phone calls I've had in a while. It had been more than a year since I talked with Diana Ronquillo, the new head volleyball coach at Santa Fe Preparatory. The circumstances of that discussion were less than pleasant.
Ronquillo, then running the program at Santa Fe High, was facing drunken driving charges and I was the one to write about that incident. We fumbled through three calls that day, and the last one left her in tears as she hung up. It was a punch in the gut for me, because of the kind of person Ronquillo is.
Friday's phone call re-affirmed a lot of those qualities about her. Again, she cried when we talked about the incident off the record. We talked about how the incident impacted her and the reasons for her departure at Santa Fe High. I hold her in high regard because of the actions she took subsequent to the story that ran in late May, which led to her voluntary resignation in June.
No one demanded that action.
She took it herself.
You see so many times nowadays where coaches, players and administrators fight unseemly incidents tooth and nail, and in many cases to their successful (on their part) conclusion. Ronquillo could have held firm and done the same.
Given that the case was ultimately dismissed, she would have moved on with her life and career with the incident but a blip on her radar screen.
Instead, she took a stand for what she felt was the right thing to do, and not just for her. It was her last act of grace toward the players at Santa Fe High. It was a stance that accountability is more important than saving face.
That as a role model, we have a higher standard to live by for those who are watching us.
It's a wake-up call to me.
And maybe for the rest of us in this crazy world.
I can't count the number of times I've gone behind the wheel after a few alcoholic beverages in my lifetime as a legal consumer of alcohol. That I haven't met the same fate as Ronquillo is merely luck. All it takes is the right set of circumstances for that to happen. And I get to meet my moment of truth.
Then I get to choose which path I take. I hope I have the courage to take the highway of accountability and humility that Ronquillo paved. Sometimes, it appears to be a deserted one.
I hope Ronquillo's two children, who both go to Prep, realize what a special mother they have. Doing the right thing is never easy. Nor is it fair.
But those are the moments that reveal the true nature of our character. Never let doubt linger about the character of Diana Ronquillo.
And I have no doubt the phone calls to - and from - her will be much easier to digest after this one.
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This blog should be on the front page of the New Mexican, and not burried where only a few will see it. You are right on the money, Diana did the right thing and now because she held herself to a standard of accontabiity she can again demand that of those she coaches. While I dont have girls who play volleyball, I do have boys who participate in five different sports at the junior-high and high school level. I wish for them coaches of charachter, like Diana Ronquillo.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, if we all stop to think about the consequences to others, ie the person we might kill as a result of driving under the influence, and his/her loved ones and our loved ones. What do the children, parents and friends of those convicted of vehicular homicide go through? Something has to work to stop the maddness. I wish there were more like Ronquillo and fewer like Fierro, because our children learn from them both.
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