The Heart of the Game

I’ve been meaning to see the documentary, The Heart of the Game, about a Seattle high school's girl’s basketball program, Roosevelt High School, for a number of reasons. It got great reviews, the coach, Bill Resler is a professor from my alma matter the University of Washington, I love basketball, and I did a long term substitute teaching assignment there and had a good friend who worked there for years. It turned out to be better than I had anticipated, because I didn’t know about the personal story of team star Darnella Russell who is seemingly college bound when she gets pregnant drops out of school returns and tries for her final year of eligibility. She is denied by high school sports governing board at first, but finally triumphs in the end. It is a great story, but also raises some questions about double standards between genders. It’s entertaining, full of vibrant personalities, a compelling story, and is essentially a feel good movie.