Coach Carter

Coach Carter is a movie that is inspiring and full of hope. It's also a movie with many subplots including the all-too-easy acceptance of mediocrity, the fallacy that a moment's worth of success in sports is better than a student's potential future, teen-age pregnancies and life in an inner-city environment.

Samuel L. Jackson is very convincing as Coach Ken Carter who is totally dedicated to building character and turning his basketball team into students first. Carter was unable to accept the status quo - that the students from Richmond High School had a better chance of ending up in prison than attending college.

For the sports fan, the basketball games and practices are an integral part of the movie, as the team transitions from losers to winners. The boys learn discipline, self-respect and the value of working as a team. Coach Carter required each boy to sign a contract stating he would maintain a 2.3 grade point average (GPA), attend all classes, and wear a suit and tie on game days. He became famous in his first year at Richmond High. After turning the team around, he locked the doors to the gym and cancelled games because his winning team had failed to live up to the contract they had signed.

Jackson is a very talented actor and I felt that I was watching his successes and failures throughout the movie. The students were played by Robert Ri'chard (Carter's son, Damien), Rob Brown, Rick Gonzales, Texas Battle, Channing Tatum, Nana Gbewonyo and Antwon Tanner. Ashanti played the girlfriend of one of the players. The movie was directed by Thomas Carter. He successfully painted a picture of the difficulties facing young people in urban areas.

Several years ago at a publishing conference, I met the real Ken Carter. He was very friendly and willingly shared his story with several of us. He took great pride in his basketball team. They were actively involved with him in the publishing of a series of motivational CDs. His belief in teamwork, leadership and excellence was evident to those of us who spent time talking with him.