Coach Carter's Leadership In Jasmine Jones

The book “Last Shot” shows what a basketball game is really about. It doesn't just show you the game and who wins; It shows you how all the competitors need to prepare immensely to attempt to win. It shows you how the players could throw everything away with their grades or selling team merchandise for a maximum profit. During the read of this book, you are Stevie Thomas, teen writing contest winner. You get to experience the time of your life (at least from his perspective), which is going and reporting at the Men’s Basketball NCAA Tournament Final Four. You discover what the reporters have to go through and maybe what the players are told to do. Basketball is much more than just the game, it’s life.

In order to live up to the reputation of the town and peers, the Permian Panthers and the coaches set goals so that they will have a winning season. The goal that is set is to win the state championship and nothing, including injury will change that goal. This occurs when Boobie Miles, the star running back, chooses to play in spite of a torn ALC, rather than yielding to the unimaginable pain that he is in. The team imposed a structure, which establishes the goals and values of the team, therefore reinforcing the team’s solidarity to winning the championship not only for them but for the town.

The book, “Training Camp” by Jon Gordon is an inspirational story filled with invaluable lessons and insights on bringing out the best in yourself and your team. The story follows a little boy named Martin Jones who was a undrafted rookie trying to make it into the NFL.. He spent his whole life proving many critics that a guy with a big heart but is small can succeed against all the odds.After Martin sprained his ankle during preseason, he thought that he lost his dream., but then he meets a very special coach. The coach was a great mentor, he shared eleven lessons about life that kept his dream alive. This help him a lot and even made him to be one of the best of the best.

Multiple chapters in the book discussed in depth about characters Boobie Miles, Mike Winchell, and Ivory Christian. Each of these players had varying backgrounds, and motivations about why they played football. These chapters also discuss the lives of players off of the field, and how the academics at Permian were backseat to their powerhouse football team.

While I was watching Coach Carter and reading Freedom Writers, I thought about how I relate with the characters or the story. In Coach Carter, the basketball team started from the bottom, they didn’t win any games, and they just messed around during practice hours. The team was stereotyped into the category of those who don't graduate or go off the college, they just won’t succeed. As the film progresses and coach Carter becomes the new coach, the team begins to realize that they are in fact capable of doing greater things, because Carter believes in them and tries to get the team to realize their capabilities. I don’t play sports nor have I ever been on a sports team, but I do know what it is like to feel that way.

Coach Steve Rocker is one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in Kentucky’s history. Coach Rocker was very successful in previous years. Strangely, this year was very different for him. For the first time in his professional life, he is falling short of his expectations, the community expectations, and the team’s expectations. His team lost a lot of games, but most importantly the boys had no motivation or desire to bring the team out of the rut they found themselves. His players have lost their will to win, their love for their teammates, and their passion to play. Coach Rocker’s motivational methods that have always worked before and resulted in success are now failing, and he doesn’t know why. He argues that his players have become selfish and bored with winning because they have been so successful in previous years. “And there’s no question that my guys have lost their drive to win because they’ve won so much in the past. Now all they want is individual ‘wins’…which just doesn’t cut it on a team” (Gongwer, 2010, p. 17).

Sports psychology deals with the mental and emotional aspects of physical performance. It involves describing, explaining and predicting attitudes, feelings and behaviours in an attempt to improve performance. In the film 'Coach Carter,' directed by Thomas Carter, sport psychology is used effectively to enhance the performance of a high school basketball team. However, this improved performance is not limited to the basketball court, it extends into the classroom where the students use goal setting, motivation, concentration and confidence control, ultimately to become accepted into college, avoiding a life of drugs, gangs and prison.

In the collegiate world of sports, basketball has become an increasingly recognized sport among African Americans, predominantly males. The hope of any young basketball player is that one day a scout will come and recruit them into stardom The question that presents itself as a problem to the lucky few who are chosen to go professional, is whether or not an education is more important than a million dollar shoe deal, “The NCAA's (1998) annual six-year study reported that only 33% of Black male basketball players graduated, (Chronicle of Higher Education, 1999). Individually, basketball reported the lowest graduation rate in all divisions,” (Robinson, 2004:1). Basketball players have become so idolized in the eyes of young

The novel begins with preseason football in the heat of a Texas summer. The players and coaches practice over 4 hours a day in 100-degree weather. The media is affecting every player pushing for a state championship and college scouts at every practice. The boys who gave completely of themselves for their sport are unique personalities. From dedicated quarterback Mike Winchell to Harvard-bound Brian Chavez to the inscrutable Ivory Christian, the team was full of young men who were singular human beings, each one bringing something special and indefinable to their group. And that's just scratching the very surface.The book recounts the tragic story of Boobie Miles, team’s star running back who had been highly recruited by all of the major programs. He is expected to attend and earn a scholarship to a large state college. The community

His teaching styles were very unintentional but you could tell what he was doing. Since he had experienced a similar situation when he was once on a team, he had wanted to give his team a different form of coaching that they wouldn’t have had expected at Richmond High School. Coach Carter did a very exquisite job at portraying these learning styles, knowing that there could have been consequences to a certain amount. It was gratifying to see that Coach Carter would do anything for his team, win or lose, he wanted them to come out successful and at least learn something even if it was a

In 2010, Penny’s childhood best friend, Desmond Merriweather became ill with cancer. To help his friend out, Penny Hardaway assisted Merriweather in coaching his son’s basketball team at Lester Middle School. Eventually Desmond Merriweather became too sick to head coach so Penny took over. He started a tutoring program that was mandatory for all players, and as a result, their GPA improved drastically. He was not only helping out a dear friend and serving as a role model for those young boys, but he was also contributing greatly to his hometown.

However, when we talk about youth sports, our main concern is with providing players with a positive, character building experience. Winning is not the only acceptable outcome for youth players, and coaches need to understand this principle. “With a winning philosophy young athletes may lose out on opportunities to develop their skills, to enjoy participation, and to grow socially and emotionally. Well informed coaches realize that success is not equivalent to winning games, and failure is not the same as losing.” (Enhancing Coach-Parent Relationships in Youth Sports, 15)

Coach Carter had trained this team to become undefeated, all thanks to hard work and discipline. The teams grades and attitudes slowly started to decline, Coach Carter took matters into his own hands. One day before practice Coach locked the gym doors, putting an end to their championship season. The team heard the news and broke out into chaos. Coach preached to the team that no one will be playing basketball until the grades are brought up, and the attitudes get better.

Coach Ken Carter takes a job to coach the Richmond High School basketball team, where he makes his players sign a contract stating they will maintain an average of a C, attend all their classes and sit in the front row, and wear a tie to every game. Carter cancels every game and practice until his players improve their academic results. Coach Carter is a determined leader that strives to improve the social and academic lives of his players. Richmond High School is in an inner city, it has the lowest rating in academic performance and the students have a 50% graduation rate. Coach Carter immediately demands his players to mutually refer to him as “Sir”, to teach them about mutual respect.

The Reasons I like the film Coach Carter it start with you seeing the state of the basketball team and why they want Ken carter to coach there. Movies that are about sport have always been my favorite type of genre and underdog stories. This film has two of my favorite actors Samuel L. Jackson and Rick Gonzalez that play their role in the movie extremely well. I like what the Ken Carter is trying to do to give back to the best way he can by trying to effect a special group of kids so they don’t end up dead or in prison. He is taking a job with low pay and dedicate his free hours and also work on opening his second store. He not only teaches them to be better basketball players, but better students. There is not a lot of special effect in the movie except when it is necessary like in the shooting on the street and the final second of the basketball games.