Coach Carter

Coach Carter is based on a true story of an inner-city high school basketball team that only won four games the year previous to getting a new coach. Coach Carter changed the atmosphere of the team, teaching life lessons and changing the mindsets of his players into student-athletes. He prepares them for the future through a bumpy road to success.

Released 2005; Runtime 136 minutes

Concepts

• Commitment: Early on, Coach Carter explains to the team that they need to make a serious commitment by acting professionally, maintaining a tougher GPA than required, and sticking to a dress code; Commitment is not instant gratification, but a long term mindset to reach goals.
• Team Cohesion: Coach Carter gives a player an impossible task (complete 2,500 push-ups and 1,000 suicides) in order for him to rejoin the team, but the rest of the team bands together and helps him accomplish that.
• Sportsmanship: Coach Carter challenges his team to play with class and act like champions, rather than trying to humiliate their opponents.
• Education: Towards the end of the movie, Coach Carter locks the gym because they aren't prioritizing their schoolwork; he feels that school should be the highlight of their life, not basketball.
• Life Skills: Coach Carter challenges his players to learn from their experiences and to think about how they see themselves, encouraging them to have goals beyond winning the championship.