Coach Carter

WESLEY TSAI
Staff Writer

In Richmond, California, where poverty plays a major part in people’s lives, a group of young student athletes found out what their biggest fears were and pushed their way through adversity with the help of an inspirational coach who changed their lives. In 2004, their tale was shared to the world through the film “Coach Carter.”

This film tells a story of teenagers who live in a run down part of their city, where they find their escape from reality by playing their one true passion: basketball. Coach Ken Carter, played stunningly by Samuel L. Jackson, helps the teenagers turn their lives around by shifting their primary focus from gangs to academics. Astoundingly, Carter teaches the team that basketball is not the only important thing in life; rather, there needs to be a balance with academics. This movie also teaches the correct path in life in a motivational and life-changing. This cinematic masterpiece was pivotal in sports because it displayed the hardships endured in life by underprivileged youth and how athletes overcome them by achieving a balance between sports and academics, giving an overall motivational feel to the viewer. Timo Cruz, one of the film’s protagonists, learns from Carter that “our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

This movie was nominated for best sports movie in 2005 at the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards.