Stick It

Haley Graham, a former elite gymnast, is forced to enroll in a gymnastics academy after too many run-ins with the law. Haley is far from welcomed by her new teammates, who resent her for walking out on her Junior Olympics team a few years earlier. Stick It is about her return and follows Haley's hardships and personal growth while at the academy.

Released 2006; Runtime 103 minutes

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Concepts

• Confidence: When the girls have their first meet, Haley shows confidence in her teammates by telling them to throw harder skills because she knows they can do it; Haley also starts by practicing the hardest skills, rather than easing back into it.
• Eating Disorders: The coach doesn't let Haley finish her dinner and forces her to walk home afterwards; Another gymnast looks at herself in a mirror with disgust, even though she is fit and muscular.
• Leadership: The other gymnasts looked up to Haley as a role model because she had competed before; Haley also provides the other girls with ways to deal with the stress of competition.
• Sportsmanship: Joanne is very un-sportsmanlike, sarcastically telling another gymnast "nice stick" when she falls on her bar dismount and follows that up by saying, "it's not called gymn-NICE-stics" to Haley.
• Team Cohesion: While this theme is evident throughout the entire movie, it is best shown at the end. Mina performed her vault flawlessly, but received only a 9.5 because her bra strap was showing, and to show solidarity, all the other girls decided to scratch their routines as well.