Coach Carter is a 2005 film adapted from a real-life American story which happened in Richmond, California. The story starts off with Ken Carter, a sporting goods store owner, accepting the coaching position for Richmond High School’s basketball team. As a former student and basketball player of Richmond High School himself, he holds many of the school records during his illustrious days of playing for the Richmond Oilers. Seeing the poor performance and attitude of the Oilers, he is more than determined to help them end their losing streak. He goes all the way out by approaching the boys in an unconventional manner. Despite being criticised by school authorities and parents alike, Coach Carter persists in offering the boys a written contract enlisting rules like adhering to the suit and tie dress code, attending all classes, sitting in the front row during each lesson and maintaining an average grade point of 2.3, failing to which all will be barred from participating in basketball activities.
After a fair amount of dispute, the boys agree to sign the contract, including his own son, Damien who insists on leaving a private school to join Richmond High to be coached by the man himself. The team struggles initially under Coach Carter’s rigid form of physical training, having never been pushed that hard. Any form of indiscipline is met with hundreds of push-ups or suicides in return. Coach Carter, on the other hand, devises uniquely-named basketball techniques, telling the boys a story about one of his sisters for each technique taught. Effective it seems, as the Oilers goes on to win 17 games in a row without dropping a single game.
However, as arrogance and cockiness get the better of them, the boys forget about the promise they made when signing the contract initially. Coach Carter is clearly upset when he finds out that the boys have not been performing academically. He makes the bold decision of locking up the gymnasium and benching the entire basketball team until they fulfil all the academic requirements that are agreed upon. Not only that, all basketball-related activities are not allowed as well. The controversial decision is met with complaints from angry parents and the entire Richmond community as they see basketball as the only future for their children and Coach Carter is destroying their children’s future. Coach Carter tries to explain that he sees college as a viable option for the boys because he knows that it is education which leads him to where he is today. He makes the decision to resign when majority of the school authorities call for the gym to be reopened as he feels his point is not taken.
The story takes a major turn here as the boys realise Coach Carter’s intention and turns over a new leaf. Academic reports show improvement in their grades and at last, the boys get to play again. They qualify for the States Championship but lost during the first round. Nonetheless, most of them are offered scholarships and accepted into colleges after graduation. As what Coach Carter tells the boys after their defeat, “I came to coach basketball players, and you became students; I came to teach boys, and you became men,” In the end, most, if not all, lead brilliant lives.
The movie also introduces some of the social issues faced by teenagers. Among them, Kenyon and Kyra are involved in premarital sex and Kyra is pregnant with Kenyon’s baby. Kenyon is faced with a dilemma whether to have the baby and work to make ends meet as a young parent or concentrate on basketball where there is a possibility of attending college. At last, Kyra makes the decision to abort the baby. Meanwhile, Kenyon receives a sports scholarship and begins his new life with Kyra as a student and basketball player in Sacramento. Besides that, the movie portrays the rampant drug culture among teenagers. Cruz, another character of the movie, is involved in selling drugs, but when a shooting incident of his own cousin happened right before him, he is forced to think about his future. Cruz regrets and with the support of Coach Carter, he vows to change for the better. On the other hand, Lyle, a Caucasian in the Oilers’ team is attacked by a group of African-Americans while walking with the rest of the team in the night. There is a large amount of vulgarity used when both groups fight and there are also words which indicate discrimination.
As a whole, the movie is truly inspiring because it touches on the profound effect one can have on the others by believing in them and bringing out the best in them. It is hard not to empathise with Coach Carter’s struggle in bringing change to the boys’ future. He succeeds finally in showing them that college is not that far away an option after all. Coach Carter gives more than the others, and therefore, he achieves more than what any ordinary coach may have achieved.
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