Flicking through the Sydney Morning Herald at the weekend, I was enormously impressed to read young Swan Dan Hannebery not only acknowledge, but also embrace, the reality that AFL players serve as role models. He admitted that as a kid he would hang on to every word an AFL player said and, as such, realised how important it was to set a good example on and off the field.

Not all AFL players - or even the wider community - will agree with this notion. Chris Judd, ironically one of the AFL's greatest role models, distanced himself from serving as a role model beyond the football field. The off-field indiscretions of some of our other players have augmented Judd's argument, leading to cries that the bar of expectation is set too high, that we shouldn't expect exemplary morals from kids whose ascension to fame may be attributed to little more than an exceptional knack to mark in a pack.

I am quick to concede that debate over the responsibilities of sportspeople is a very complex one. What "role model" means and who serves as a "role model" differs greatly throughout the community.

Without probing these questions here, what is clear is that who people look up to, and how community sentiment changes, is influenced by a multitude of factors. For some parts of our community, sports people have a much greater role than others, whether due to a lack of parental role models or not.

It would be fair to acknowledge that sportspeople do have some "role model" function, whether or not every kid shaves their legs because Lance Armstrong shaves his.

The maturity of Hannebery is realising that he may have a profound impact on others without him even knowing it. The contrast is with US basketballer Charles Barkley's oversimplification that "bringing up kids is the job of parents, not sports stars." If only life were that simple.

This is not to say we need all players to actively court responsibility in an angelic fashion. Training hard, working as a team, respecting one another and goal setting are attributes both of good footballers and good role models. Behaving responsibly should not be seen as a sacrifice, but as an integral part of development as a player and as a person. That Hannebery has embraced this approach reflects well on the culture of the club. That young aspiring kids - and I bet there are many at Xavier College alone - may also embrace this approach, is a credit to Hannebery.

Like it or not, sportspeople do have some sway over community attitude and opinion, at bare minimum because they have a voice that we hear. This voice can be both used for good (Tom Harley initiating a responsible drinking campaign) or for bad (Brendan Fevola drinking to excess). There are myriad intervening factors on whether these behaviours will help fix or exacerbate social problems - whether the behaviour is condemned by the media, what our friends think, what our schools teach - but slowly and surely sporting leaders can be one factor in changing sentiment as to what behaviour or attitudes are unacceptable. The recent grant by the government to the AFL for a campaign to elevate respect for women typifies this.

Simplifying the idea of "role model" to whether young kids will copy does underplay the role of other influences, such as parents. The recent song and dance over AFL players' use of caffeine and the corollary fear that kids will follow suit provides an example. But the influence of role models can be far more subtle, and collectively, AFL players can create positive change without even knowing it.

For this reason, the more players who embrace Hannebery's philosophy, the better.

(Kim Crow is an AIS scholarship holder and member of the Australian's women's rowing team.)