The Heart of the Game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Heart of the Game | |
|---|---|
 The Heart of the Game poster |
|
| Directed by | Ward Serrill |
| Produced by | Ward Serrill |
| Written by | Ward Serrill |
| Starring | Bill Resler Darnellia Russell Joyce Walker Ludacris |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
| Release date(s) | June 9, 2006 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $11.3 thousand |
| IMDb profile | |
The Heart of the Game is a sports documentary about the Roosevelt Roughriders girls basketball team. The movie is centered around their star player Darnellia Russell and the Roughriders new coach Bill Resler.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (April 2008) |
The film begins two years before the African-American Darnellia Russell attends the predominantly white and upper-class Roosevelt High School. Bill Resler, a tax law professor at the University of Washington, becomes their new girls basketball coach. Relser, a coach who uses animal and nature themes to motivate his team, believes they can win the Washington State championship but they fall short in the first game of the state tournament.
A couple of years later, Darnellia attends Roosevelt High School where she makes the junior-varsity team. Learning of her natural talent, Resler recruits her for the varsity squad. In the following years, the talented Roosevelt team falls short of winning the state championship in close games. Darnellia receives letters of interest from several major universities. However, after her junior year, Darnellia becomes pregnant by her longtime boyfriend and drops out of school.
After giving birth to a daughter, Darnellia returns to Roosevelt for her fifth year. The WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Activities Association) bans Russell from playing basketball due to a rule that states that high school students can only play on their teams for four years, unless a hardship is involved. Darnellia, believing that having an unplanned child constitutes a hardship, appeals the decision. Attorney Ken Luce represents Darnellia in court and a judge rules in Darnellia's favor. The WIAA takes the matter to court again, and for the second time the judge grants Darnellia the right to continue playing. However, the WIAA files a lawsuit against Darnellia and Roosevelt High School. In defiance of the WIAA, the Roughriders continue to play with Darnellia on the team.
Darnellia and her team return to the Washington State high school basketball championship tournament and play their rivals, the Garfield Bulldogs in the finals. Darnellia leads the team to the school's first state championship. Two days later, the WIAA dropped their case. Darnellia graduates from high school with honors and is named the Northwest Player of the Year.
Although Darnellia didn't receive any college scholarships, she attended North Seattle Community College.
On November 10th, 2007, Roosevelt fired Resler as head coach. Roosevelt said that they wanted to go in a "different direction." [1]
[edit] Awards
- 2007 Billie Award in Entertainment[1]
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Billie Awards. women's sports foundation. Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
