the heart of the game

Director: ward serrill

Actor: darnellia russell,bill resler,ludacris,devon crosby helms

Data Published: Fri Jul 07 2006

Genres: Documentary,Sport

Key Words: watching television,national anthem,basketball team,high school,basketball

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478166/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heart_of_the_Game

Description: The Heart of the Game is a movie starring Darnellia Russell, Bill Resler, and Ludacris. A documentary Roosevelt Roughriders, a girls' high-school basketball team in Seattle, and one player's fight to regain her eligibility to play.

Plot: The film begins two years before 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. Resler, 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, Russell 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. Russell receives letters of interest from several major universities. However, after her junior year, she becomes pregnant by her longtime boyfriend and drops out of school. After giving birth to a daughter, Russell returns to Roosevelt for her fifth year. However, the WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Activities Association) bans her 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. Russell, believing that having an unplanned child constitutes a hardship, appeals the decision. Attorney Ken Luce, located in Tacoma, Washington, represents her in court and a judge rules in Russell's favor. The WIAA takes the matter to court again, and for the second time the judge grants Russell the right to continue playing. However, the WIAA files a lawsuit against Russell and Roosevelt High School. In defiance of the WIAA, the Roughriders continue to play with Russell on the team. Russell and her team return to the Washington State high school basketball championship tournament and play rivals, the Garfield Bulldogs in the finals. She leads the team to the school's first state championship. Two days later, the WIAA dropped their case. Russell graduates from high school with honors and is named the Northwest Player of the Year. Although Russell didn't receive any college scholarships, she attended North Seattle Community College.