Coach Carter!!!

I caught Coach Carter a few weeks ago. It was a true story based on Ken Carter who took on the job as the Richmond High School Team basketball coach and he went about implementing his unorthodox methods(the students were to sign a contract and some of the clauses included maintaining a G.P.A score of 2.3, sitting in front for all the classes and attending all classes) The team apparently won 4 games last season and when Ken Carter(played by Samuel L Jackson) became the coach, they were undefeated for some 17 games. When he realised that some of his team members were not honouring the contract, he locked the entire gym and forced them to study. They even missed basketball matches and it was seen as an unpopular decision as the Richmond community supported basketball and Ken Carter refused to back out from his decision(I'm not going to spoil it by giving away the ending for those who haven't watched the movie)

Why am i talking about Coach Carter? Am I going to heap praise on Samuel L Jackson for putting in a excellent performance? This movie has made me realise a few things and i want to share it to with you, folks.

Firstly, Ken Carter as a basketball coach demanded respect and he led the way by addressing his team as 'Sirs' and the team reciprocated by addressing him as coach or sir. If we were to show respect to others, others will also tend to respect you. I had a pleasant surprise when my Chem tutor addressed one guy as Sir on fine day. I felt that it was a warm feeling and i wished that all my tutors will start addressing the class by 'sirs' and 'madames'.(a lofty ambition to begin with).

This movie has made me realise that i have a big part to play in other people's lives. For example, when his team collectively failed to honour the contract, he used the word 'we have failed to honour our contract'. He simply made a difference in his boy's lives. I felt that we can make a difference to the people around us by motivating them and encouraging them on. I felt more responsibility towards my friends and family and egging them on to soar higher. My tution kids will be on the receiving end of my motivational talk i dish out to them every week. Some of my friends do feel that i'm too motivational.

The most important lesson in this film is courage. I for sure would have bowed down to pressure if i was in Ken Carter's postition but Carter knew that he has to persist with his unorthodox methods which were unpopular in order to see his boys succeed academically. It's very difficult to persist in the face of criticism but when you do and you succeed , people will tend to remember you. We can't just simply throw everything away just because the decision we took was unpopular but we know that it is right and necessary.

So folks, I hope you got inspired enough by inspiraci(pardon the pun) to start watching the movie if you haven't and effecting some change into your life. I hope you feel the same way as I did and make a difference to other people's lives.