Running head: COACH CARTER 1

Coach Carter

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ABSTRACT.

This studies aim is to research on the classic sports movie, Coach Carter, and provide an

analysis thereafter. A reflection on the sports and academic aspect of students who participate in

sports is created. Coach carter despite having all the possessions of an education film genre has

not been accorded as such. The exclusion brings about the discussion surrounding the film on

sports versus academics in the education system. The film itself is a sport film as it meets all the

conventional sports formula but brings about a contrast in sports and the tensions it has with

academics thus introducing the nature of it being an educational film. Coach Carter try to kill the

notion that success is only easily found in sports calling for the balancing sports and academics.

INTRODUCTION.

Everybody has to go through school making the school’s experience a close to heart

experience. Often when we watch a similar experience being depicted on screen or through

films, sometimes we feel like we are reliving the experience or traveling back in time which

creates empathy with what is being filmed. This is very similar to the experience I had when I

watched Coach Carter(Carter, 2005). The film reminds one on how hard it is to create a balance

between academia and sports both requiring high mental sharpness and sometimes they can wear

a person off.

Based on experienced and what I have seen around, venturing into the exploration of the

idea around sports and education as brought out in the film Coach Carter. How does Mr.Carter

go about the issue of academics and sports? What are the coaches stand on the idea of education?

The movie brings forth a lot of aspects of how reality and the movie are connected not forgetting

the reality sports in the system of education and sports as an academic debate (Monroe, n.d.).
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Is sports used as only as a recreational activity? From a conventional way of reasoning,

sports are for physic and staying fit and healthy rather than a discipline of the body and mind

training. Will sports still remain as it is if it is replaced by education. A sport is a physical

education not recognized in the educational sense like calculus or chemistry. Can the sport really

be much more and act as an educating mechanism? The picture most people associate or get

when they think of sports is purely entertainment. Not many people give sports the benefit of

doubt as to having potential to do more or be more.in sports however there are considerable facts

that are more educational based in comparison o other usual assumptions (Monroe, n.d.). The

mind’s education is deemed irrelevant by sports more so in the modern system of education. The

present system gives or places more emphasis on the academic system of education as the main

mode of education ever since the 19th century. Sports remains an activity that is and will ever will

be an extra-curricular education. In some small instances, sports maybe introduced as subject but

is limited to time and schedules.

BODY.

The film coach carter is all about role models, a significant played by Samuel L Jackson

as coach Carter. Samuel Ljackson plays the role of coach Carter, Ken Carter, who was a star of

the team he was now coaching at Richmond (California) High School, and had set records that

still stood even now as he was a coach, had a successful military career and owned a successful

business on the side.

There are movies that inspire and touch the depths of our hearts and Coach Carter

happens to be one of those movies. The ideologies of responsibility, teamwork, discipline,

affection, leading in change, having and creating a vision, being able to communicate that vision,

having a guiding coalition that is powerful, the creation and planning of goals that are short term,
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having new approaches to life among many other aspects brought out in this movie. His notion

was that failure of one student was attributed to failure of all. If on student failed to turn up for

training then all the rest of his teammates suffered. Coach Carter tolerated no late reporting to

practice whether the students were tired or not, whether they had a lot of homework or not,

whether they had personal and family problems or not (Monroe, n,d,).

Ken Carter comes back into the old world, Richmond High but this time with a newer

role. He accepts the jobs to coach as he a renowned basketballer, one of the best that Richmond

had ever had. Monroe (n.d.) holds that coach Carter knows that there is responsibility and a deep

sense of commitment with the sport (Monroe (n.d.). In light of this, he gives every single player

on his team a contract to sign outlining the terms that need be met for one to play ball. His

players were undisciplined, rude and violent. Coach Carter came with a vision and a work ethic

and he insisted mostly that his students had to emphasis on academics as much as they did sports.

His rules were simple, all students had to maintain a 2.3 GPA in their study. This meant

as they attained good grades in class and on the court then talented ballers had the opportunity to

be warded scholarships as most of the students came from poor families and some gangs. His

main aim for the team was to develop attitude that was positive in the team, ethics and values

instillation and being academically strong. Any students who reported late for training had to do

1000 pushups or 100 suicides (Monroe (n.d.). He asked students what their deepest fears were

with the aim of instilling clear visions in them as effort consequences is the biggest fear. Coach

Carter instilled a sense of urgency which made every player come out of theory comfort zones.

Coach Carter was a mentor first, then a coach second. He had a vision of turning boys

into men as they had to wear ties. He pointed out success and instilled discipline into his boys
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and the urgency to go after their dreams (Toan, n.d.). He made his boys men and a winning team

compared to the season ended before he was appointed as a coach.

LITERATURE REVIEW

How to be a student athlete.

Knowledge power and the ability to persevere where some things athletes on his team

were required to adhere to. He offered to teach the students all the knowledge he had gained

throughout all his career and life at large. He held that a person with access to information was

the most successful person (Toan, n.d.). He laid out the four things that make a winner namely

accountability, integrity, being a follower before you become a good leader and lastly being part

of the team. He insisted on writing things down as they manifested ten times more in pone’s life.

He was all about young people and making good decisions pointing out the fact that wanting

something does not mean it would come easy. He pushed everyone to be the best they could be

and always insisted that the word student comes before the word athlete. His players were

students and secondly athletes.

The Value of Education.

This controversial high school basketball coach benched all of his team for failing to

attain their GED targets as they had signed a binding contract and as a result, they had to honor

the terms of their contracts (Toan, n.d.). He always reminded the students that they might b a
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small fraction of the population but a full percentage of the future. He insisted on investing

everything he had in the education of the guys as they were the future.

CONCLUSION

In a gym full of disrespectful, arrogant, and loud students, Coach Carter entered and commanded

the fierceness and attention. Coach Carter brought with him the positive message that through

self-discipline, lives can be changed drastically, hard work and through character development.

He is an inspiration to his students. He was not an average man and was always on the frontline

for teaching his students the value of education for the future. He looks to the future and thinks

long term. He knew that grades had to improve for the students and encouraged a balance

between education and sports. Coach Carter was a role model, a teacher, a father and overall, he

was the Coach.

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References

Monroe, R. (2022, March 4). Coach Carter True Story: How Much Is Real & What Happened

Next. https://screenrant.com/coach-carter-movie-true-story-accuracy-updates/

Toan, H. M. (n.d.). COACH CARTER AS a REFLection on the sports – academic debate.

academic debate. file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/20201202%20Coach%20Carter

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