Pack of Wolves

On my flight to Fort Lauderdale, I happened to catch the 2005 documentary called "Heart of the Game" about a Seattle high school girls basketball team and their charismatic coach. The coach would use different animal metaphors each season to get the girls riled up and literally "out for blood." I loved it — I was always a little envious of the close camaraderie the girl jocks at my high school seemed to have. It was as if they were living in their own separate world regimented by practices and games. They were intimidating but in a non-oppressive way, unlike the "mean girls" who used beauty and popularity to wield power.

What blew me away about this film was the emphasis on teamwork over the individual (which is more common in men's sports), the fierceness these girls had when competing, and their desire to have "contact," i.e. to ram into other girls, fall down, bruise and bleed. They all decided to support one of their star teammates after she got pregnant, dropped out of school for a year, and then returned to finish high school and play basketball as a fifth year senior — even though it could have meant they would have to forfeit any of their victories that season (the decision to let her play was being fought in court).

I was hanging out with my cousin Saturday night who just got a part time job coaching the local high school girls’ softball team. He played baseball in college and was being scouted to play professionally, but injured his arm. I told him to watch this doc and the coach for inspiration. He also mentioned how girl athletes work harder and compete more intensely than the guys because they have to — they are still trying to prove their legitimacy to their peers and in the mainstream sports world in general.

This would have been the perfect film for a company like Nike to have gotten behind in some way (maybe they did and I just don't know about it) — but I can see local screening events for middle and high school girls basketball teams paired with a clinic run by a WNBA star.

If you're at all interested in understanding the mentality of teen girl athletes, this DVD is a must-rent.

Sort of related: I found this Washington Post, reg. required, column about stereotypes and how they can become self fulfilling prophecies really interesting, especially when it comes to how stereotypical representations of femininity seem to lead girls to express a preference for the arts over math.

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